5 things Formula 1 should fix BEFORE sprint race changes

FIA

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5 things F1 should fix BEFORE sprint race changes

Stefano Domenicali wants to load up on sprint races. Okay. But there's more to do, argues Chris Deeley

Chris Deeley

Tuesday 18 April 2023 20:54

There's nothing that Formula 1 loves more than messing around with its own rules every five minutes. The sport gets tweaked on the fly so often that it's basically motorised Calvinball at this point.

The latest and greatest mid-season rule tweak looks like it's going to involve more and more sprint races, Stefano Domenicali's brainchild. The man seems to hate practice sessions, and has decided to make that everyone else's problem. Okay. He's the boss.

It doesn't seem like a stretch, though, to suggest that this shouldn't be F1's highest priority.

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If changes are being made, surely there are some others to stick at the top of the list. Things like...

5: Reduce the effects of DRS

We can broadly agree that the introduction of DRS into F1 is a good thing, stopping the deeply boring spectacle of one driver sat just outside overtaking range for 15 laps until one or the other has to pit. You can have too much of a good thing though, and it does feel like DRS is robbing us of some properly intense fights.

Overtaking should be fun! There should be an element of jeopardy, rather than 'ah, yep, he's catching him at a rate of knots, so when they hit the next DRS activation zone...there we are, the most routine pass in the world before they've even got to the braking zone'.

We made overtaking boring. That shouldn't be a thing. Maybe just dial it back a little, yeah?

4: Stop. Going. To. America.

Sorry Americans. We really do love you over here. But after the miserable experience that was the last Miami Grand Prix, was the answer really to keep that on the calendar AND re-surface half of Las Vegas for a third US race of the year?

That's more events on the calendar than any other country, and for what? The Circuit of the Americas is entirely decent, yes. Good. Keep the US race in Austin, on an actual track, and stop farting about trying to pander to a market that already has a motor racing series they care about more than you.

3: Sort out the restart rules

'We have to finish the race under a safety car!' 'Actually it's terrible to do that, let's consider red flagging it then getting everyone racing!' 'Standing starts are bad, we have to sort that out too!'

Sick of it. Lock all the drivers and team principals in a room with the FIA and don't let them come out until they've decided on something that they're all happy to sign off on. Then we can cut out this ridiculous situation where there's weeks of complains and snide remarks every single time there's a restart which benefits one team over another.

2: Get weird

F1 used to have six-wheeled cars! Two championships in two years were decided when the leaders crashed into each other! Then there were three sensible years, and two championships in four years were decided when the leaders crashed into each other in the final race of the season!

We can probably hold off the high-speed shunts, but six-wheeled cars? Double rear wings? That horrible little tusk thing Lotus had going on in 2014? Weird F1 is fun!

It's time to lean into that. Have a car with an extra front wing. Mandate one race a season where drivers have to share the cockpit with a worm in a small jar of soil, and call it a nod to the sport's commitment to being more eco-friendly. Create a second, shorter race to be held on a Saturday to decide grid posi--WAIT NO NOT THAT.

1: Knock a couple of races off the calendar

Yes! Really! As cool as it is that we're about to be able to watch races for a run of five out of six weekends – and as great as that is to be able to write about! – it's the exact kind of thing that has teams wrapping their power units in cotton wool, knackers drivers, and leaves engineers focused on making sure their cars survive rather than thinking about improvements.

F1 bosses love the expanded calendar because they can bring in more money from fans and race organisers, and have more to show on TV. That's no secret. But it dilutes each race's importance to the championship, and keeps teams focused on making sure their cars finish as opposed to really cranking up the pace.