Since its introduction in 2021, Max Verstappen has openly shared his aversion toward the Sprint format. The format has undergone a lot of tweaks as well. The 2024 edition also saw changes with Sprint qualifying moved to Friday and Grand Prix qualifying moved to Saturday after the 100km dash. So far, the reigning world champion has never liked it. The first Sprint weekend of 2024 did come in handy for the Red Bull man. Although he is still maintaining his opposing stance on the format.
Apart from the scheduling change, now teams can adjust their setup for the Grand Prix qualifying, with Parc Ferme opening up after the sprint race. Unlike last year, teams can now use their data from the Sprint race to make necessary changes as the settings aren’t fixed for the entire weekend.
This rule change came in handy for Verstappen and Co. as he was struggling at the start of the Sprint race. The Dutchman credited this rule change for his incredible performance in the qualifying session.
Speaking to Viaplay, as quoted by F1 Maximaal, Verstappen said, “We changed some things on the car, and fortunately that turned out well. We just wanted to get a better feel for a few things, and that came out straight away in qualifying. The balance was good, and I was able to improve in every run.”
Despite the positive outcome, the Red Bull man is not a fan of the format. He believes now everyone can learn from their mistakes and improve their output throughout the weekend. In a traditional format, there is little time for adjustment from qualifying to the race and it comes down to individual ability. This is precisely why the Dutchman isn’t a fan. However, looking back, Verstappen should be thankful for the rule change.
The Sprint run that helped Max Verstappen secure Red Bull’s 100th pole
Max Verstappen’s RB20 was out of sorts from the start of the weekend in Shanghai. The Dutchman could only manage P4 in the Sprint qualifying. After a shoddy qualifying session, he was struggling at the start of the Sprint race as well. However, after a quick setting change during the race, he turned his fortunes around.
He not only won the race starting from P4, but he finished it 13 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in P2 after overtaking him on the ninth lap of the 19-lap race. The setup change salvaged Versatppen’s weekend and helped him secure the team’s 100th pole in the race qualifying.
The three-time champion consistently improved in the qualifying making light work of the session at the end. Verstappen is truly in a league of his own. However, some teams have massively closed the gap to the front-running Dutchman.
Ferraris and McLarens are right there behind him a few tenths away in most races. In the qualifying session, Fernando Alonso also proved the Aston Martin AMR24 also has potential.
Even though the gap to the next car which was not a Red Bull was half a second in Shanghai, this isn’t standard procedure. The Chinese GP qualifying session was just one of Verstappen’s Hall of Fame performances.
