To spice up Sprint races, Pérez favors inverted grids

At the end of the 2023 season, Brazil hosted the 12th Sprint Race in the history of the Formula 1. If the Interlagos circuit offered a great spectacle on the track, as is often the case on the Paulista route, it did not succeed in convincing the drivers most reluctant to this format. To start with Max Verstappen, perhaps the most critical driver regarding Sprint weekends. “[I would like to have] a normal racing weekend, please. Thank you. I’m not interested in change, I don’t like it,” he replied when asked at a press conference what changes he would like to improve Sprint Racing.

Introduced in 2021, the Sprint format has undergone numerous changes since then, without finding the right formula to satisfy everyone. And while discussions have started to modify the organization of the Sprint weekend, Sergio Pérez proposes a more radical solution and believes that F1 must go even further.

“I think if they [F1] want to keep this Sprint racing format, we need to change it. I would suggest a reverse grid, something like that to make things more interesting for the fans, because I don't think it currently works the way we want it to., underlines the Mexican. Nothing really happens in these kinds of races. »

An inverted grid, “ something different " according to Pérez

According to the pilot Red Bull, the introduction of inverted grids, as is done in particular in Formula 2 and Formula 3, could spice up the Sprint weekend and give better chances to the struggling teams. “I think it would mix things up and create more opportunities, a lot more passing, adds Pérez. If we want to keep this format, let's try something different. Because I think in the last two years this type of event hasn't brought a lot of good racing. »

In Brazil, the drivers especially suffered with their tires, to the point of experiencing a real management race during the 24 laps of the Sprint. Which goes against the grain of what the Sprint Race should essentially be, namely an attack race for around thirty minutes. Could inverted grids be the solution to all the problems of this format? If yes, with what application? Inverted grid compared to qualifying as in F2-F3, or compared to the championship? Still so many questions and problems to resolve for a format which, certainly, struggles to fit into the DNA of F1...

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