F1 sprint race shake-up is being mulled over, but it's a polarising idea
Reverse-grid sprint races are being mooted as F1 considers changes to the format.
F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali has revealed he plans to talk with teams and drivers about making changes to the sprint race format.
The 2025 F1 calendar currently features six sprint events but Domenicali believes there is appetite to extend the amount of events, as well as potentially introducing reverse-grid races.
The idea to trial reverse-grid sprint races has been mooted since 2020 but is yet to get off the ground, having faced opposition at various points in recent years.
Changes to the sprint race format were approved for 2025 which saw qualifying for the sprint take place on Friday and the sprint race moved to Saturday morning before qualifying for the main grand prix.
"I do believe there are possibilities to extend two things, which we need to discuss, both with the drivers and the teams, and, of course, with the FIA," Domenicali told The Race.
"There are: can we apply that [sprint schedules] with more races? And is this the right formula to have the possibility to have a reversed grid, as we are doing with F2 and F3? These are points of discussion.
"I think that we are getting there to be mature to make sure that this point will be tackled seriously with the teams.
"The vibes to progress in this direction are definitely growing, and therefore I'm ready to present and to discuss not only more sprints…but if there are new formats, new ideas.”
F1 drivers have mostly been opposed to the idea of holding reverse-grid sprint races in the past, and it remains to be seen whether they have changed their views.
F1 is open to trying new ideas
Domenicalli stressed the importance of F1 being open to experiment with new ideas, even if they ultimately fail.
"We are open for that, because I think that's the right thing - to listen to our fans, to try to create something, and not to be worried to do mistakes,” Domenicali said. “The one who believes to do no mistakes doesn't do anything new.
The Italian added: "I think that the sprint, whatever will be the right format, we need to have it. It will represent the future."
Domenicali did not rule out the possibility of following MotoGP’s approach of having sprint races at every round, however he said that is an unlikely prospect for F1 in the short term.
"I'm not saying no, but I think that, between six and 24, we have to do steps into the middle," he concluded.
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