“Majority of Them Were Pro”: Naomi Schiff Gives Surprising Opinion of F1 Drivers Over Sprint Race Existence Amidst Difficulties

Sabyasachi Biswas | 10/11/2023
“Majority of Them Were Pro”: Naomi Schiff Gives Surprising Opinion of F1 Drivers Over Sprint Race Existence Amidst Difficulties

Naomi Schiff has recently revealed on the Sky Sports F1 podcast about the differing opinions that F1 drivers have about the existence of the Sprint format. The expert revealed that most of the drivers were interestingly in favor of the new format, while some definitely had their reservations.

Schiff said, “I did actually have the opportunity to ask the question to all the drivers that were there in the press conference on Thursday, on what was obviously the last, sixth and final Sprint race of the season. What were their reflection? And I’ve to say that it was quite mixed.”

With this, she further added, “Quite a few of them, I’d say, majority of them were pro on the Sprint”. Along with this, the Sky Sports expert also emphasized that the fans also loved the Sprint format. She said, “The viewing figures say that the Sprint is loved by the audience.”

Admittedly, the Sprint races have been problematic for the teams as the one practice session results in them having difficulties setting up the car for the weekend. However, although the majority of the drivers were pro-Sprint races, Max Verstappen was not one of them.

Max Verstappen and Christian Horner are against F1’s sprint format

Red Bull’s top names such as Max Verstappen and Christian Horner were two critical members who criticized the Sprint race off late. For Verstappen, he wants a normal race weekend with no further invention since it becomes hectic for the drivers. For Horner, the Sprint race seems to be missing the X factor and therefore is not very appealing.

Admittedly, the Sprint race has faced mixed reactions from the audience, experts, and drivers from day one. While part of them believed that the new format had nothing new to provide in the race, the other side enjoyed the extra adrenaline rush the Sprint weekend provided.

One driver who seems to love the Sprint format is Lewis Hamilton. This is because the Mercedes star had a mega race in Brazil in 2021 where he started the Sprint race in P20. By the time the race in Sao Paulo concluded, Hamilton crossed the finish line in P1.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Christian Horner Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Naomi Schiff

About the author

Avatar photo

Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

Don’t miss these