Formula 1 may look to introduce qualifying races in the future in order to attempt to attract younger people to become fans of the sport.
The majority of racing series, including top series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Verizon IndyCar Series and Formula 1, are lacking in terms of young fans. The average age of fans in each of these three fanbases gets older every year, and young people simply aren’t as into racing as they once were.
Formula 1 officials have an idea on how to attempt to change this, although it may be an idea that scares some of the older, die-hard fans away, much like we saw take place when NASCAR introduced stage racing prior to the start of the 2017 season across the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience.
Liberty Media, the mass media company that completed their purchase of Formula 1 in January of 2017, proposed their new idea to make Formula 1 more attractive to a younger audience in the opening race weekend of the season in Melbourne, Australia ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
An idea that had been tossed around was the idea of shortening races to capture the interest of a wider audience, including young fans, but Liberty Media realized that this likely would not work, as the older, long-time fans of the sport would likely object to races having fewer laps than they already do.
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But the idea that Liberty Media proposed in Melbourne consists of having the grid for Formula 1 races set up by short sprint races on the day before the main events are held.
Here are the basics of that idea.
Friday’s two practice sessions would be shortened to one hour each, and there would no longer be a Saturday practice session. There would still be a regular qualifying session on Saturday, but that session would set the starting grid for the qualifying race, which would also take place on Saturday and would last for roughly one-third of the length of the main event on Sunday. The results of this race would set the starting grid for Sunday’s race.
This idea, which is still what it is, is definitely still in the works. It has not been confirmed yet, and there is nothing to suggest that it will be in the near future. We will just have to wait and see what happens.
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Would you support the idea of the grids for Formula 1 races being set by sprint races on the day before the main events are set to be held, or are you a fan of the current qualifying format that is used to set the starting grids for races? Let us know where you stand on this particular topic.