Lewis Hamilton fears disappointing F1 sprint race "train"

Max Verstappen leads a train of cars in the Austrian Grand Prix — Photo: © LAT Images

Sprint Races

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Hamilton fears disappointing F1 sprint race "train"

F1 will trial sprint races for the first time at the British GP

Sam Hall

Saturday 10 July 2021 09:30

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Lewis Hamilton has revealed to possessing low expectations for F1's first sprint race experiment at the British Grand Prix as he fears it will lead to "a train".

Silverstone will play host to the first of three trial events next Saturday where the traditional qualifying format will move to Friday night to make space for a 100km 'sprint', the classification of which will set the grid for Sunday's grand prix.

Despite growing anticipation as drivers will be able to run flat out for 17 laps without worrying about tyre degradation, strategy or pit stops, Mercedes driver Hamilton does not share the general optimism.

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“It’ll be a train probably," he said. "Hopefully there will be some overtaking but it most likely won’t be too exciting.”

The FIA recently decided the winner of the sprint would be classified as claiming pole position rather than from the traditional qualifying.

Asked for his opinion as the driver who holds the record of 100 poles, Hamilton said: "I don’t really have an opinion about it. We’ll wait and see. There’s no point judging it before we even get into it so it doesn’t matter.”

Hamilton revelling in 'different battle' with Verstappen

Prior to this year, Hamilton has often raced unchallenged by a rival team with his only threat predominantly coming from former team-mate Nico Rosberg who retired after winning the title in 2016.

Asked to compare his current rivalry with Red Bull's Max Verstappen to his often explosive feud with Rosberg, Hamilton explained: "It’s different when you’re in a team.

"It’s really hard to compare them, to be honest. I’m not in his team so I don’t know. We’re just having a different sort of battle but they’re both great drivers.

“That’s what Formula 1 is about, teams racing against each other. It’s a shame It’s not as close as it was at the beginning of the year but that’s the way it is.

"We’ve still got a lot of races ahead of us so we’ve got to just keep our heads down and keep plugging away."