George Russell uses rival F1 teams to attack sprint weekends

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Russell uses rival F1 teams to attack sprint weekends

The format is under review after a number of complaints during 2023

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 3 December 2023 09:57

Mercedes driver George Russell has said that the 'concept' of reverse grids for Formula 1 sprint races 'won't work'.

The format of sprint weekends was a point of discussion throughout the 2023 season, with just one practice session during these weekends causing chaos for some teams, particularly at tracks with adverse weather conditions or new track surfaces.

Sky Sports F1 pundit David Croft recently suggested that sprint races should form a separate world championship, whilst there has been criticism from world champion Max Verstappen about the point of the events, particularly during a season in which one team is so dominant.

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One potential solution that has been discussed to increase the entertainment value of sprint races has been the idea of a reverse grid, making superstar drivers like Verstappen make their way through the pack.

George Russell isn't impressed by the idea of a reverse grid for sprint races

Max Verstappen has recently questioned the point of sprint weekends

David Croft believes there should be a separate world championship for sprint events

FIA looking at sprint weekend options

However, Russell doesn't believe this is valid solution, pointing to other junior series as an example.

“I won’t talk on behalf of the drivers, but my own personal view is I don’t think reverse grid races will work,” he said in quotes reported by F1i.

“Purely because I learned this when I raced in Formula 3 and Formula 2.

“If you’ve got the 10 fastest cars, the most challenging car to overtake is the one who you’re fighting with.

“If you reverse that grid, you’re going to have the quickest car in 10th trying to overtake the second-quickest car in ninth, which is trying to overtake the third-quickest car which is in eighth.

“So each car is actually trying to overtake their most direct competitor.”

“What you’ll probably actually find is it would just be a DRS train,” he continued.

“Because you might have – you know – a Williams leading from a Haas, who can’t quite get past, who’s leading from an Alpine, who’s then leading from a McLaren or whoever.

“So I think the concept won’t work.”

Max Verstappen Mercedes Formula 1 George Russell David Croft