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Formula 1: Sprint qualifying idea raises more questions

By Kevin Nguyen

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 24: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 on track during qualifying for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 24, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 24: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 on track during qualifying for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 24, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) /
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Formula 1’s solution to a decline in viewership is a gimmick that raises more questions and clashes with the current F1 climate.

It seems that every idea Liberty Media has for Formula 1 is a rehashed idea from the Bernie Ecclestone era. Their latest, sprint race qualifying, is one that Ecclestone suggested a similar concept for but for race day in 2016.

As reported, the sprint race would set the grid and be a fraction of the length of the main race on Sunday. Further details show that Liberty wants it to be unrestricted, meaning teams and drivers are free to use any tires and any engine mode they wish.

How would that work with the FIA limiting engines units? How would that work with calls to end “party modes” on engines? How would that work with longer tracks? And most importantly, why fix something that isn’t broken? The answer to the latter is because that seems to be Liberty’s MO.

Liberty Media Motorsport Director Ross Brawn has said that Liberty isn’t in the business of “dumbing down” F1, and while sprint races aren’t dumbing down F1, with the rules as they are, it’s a gimmick and gimmicks are ploys to mask a problem. Qualifying isn’t the problem. Remember the last gimmick and how well that worked out?

When F1 introduced double points for the 2014 season, there was thought that it would incentivize non-competitive teams to push in the hopes of jumping in the constructor standings, it would allow more drivers to be within reach of the drivers’ championship, and it would keep fan interest throughout the season.

None of that happened. Mercedes dominated the entire season, and by the time the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix came around, Mercedes had the constructor championship locked up. It was only sheer bad luck that Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes encountered an ERS problem and eventually had to retire, clearing Lewis Hamilton of his closest rival.

Because of Mercedes’ dominance, fans had mostly stopped caring by the Brazilian Grand Prix after Hamilton’s five straight wins after the Belgian Grand Prix.

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The idea of an unrestricted sprint race to set the grid, in theory, sounds very exciting, but with teams limited to three total power units and a further restriction on power unit components, it wouldn’t logically be beneficial for teams to go all out on Saturday. Why risk a valuable engine component overheating or failing just to get a top grid spot, especially since grid penalties this year are 15 places for three component changes?

With Red Bull’s Christian Horner calling an end to “party modes” to encourage parity, it makes little sense for F1 to suddenly say ‘yes’ to an engine mode free-for-all despite Brawn saying that a Mercedes vs. Ferrari battle isn’t enough. This would be troubling for Toro Rosso and Honda given recent history.

Finally, with longer tracks such as Spa-Francorchamps or tracks where overtaking is difficult such as Albert Park in Australia, a sprint race would likely see no real any change in classification. Any circuit where leading from the front is key to victory wouldn’t change just because qualifying is now a sprint.

If the intention is to grab the best grid position at such circuits, the most logical plan for teams would be to conserve running on Friday and go all out on Saturday. That saves wear and mileage. So for long and tracks on which it is difficult to overtake, it would shrink the weekend to literally being weekend-only.

Sprint races exist in the junior formulas because of their innate ability to test drivers’ speed and their ability to strategize. However, it wouldn’t do the same for F1. F1 drivers are there because they are fast enough and there are engineers available to coach drivers on strategy because of the myriad of things an F1 driver already has to do inside the car.

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Let’s hope teams do not give the green light sprint qualifying because it doesn’t fix F1. There are more effective and immediate needs to engage a declining F1 audience, such as launching F1 TV. Start there, Liberty, and leave qualifying alone.

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