Sebastian Vettel - F1 "wrong" to award pole to sprint qualifying winner

Vettel, Aston Martin, Britain — Photo: © LAT Images

British Grand Prix

Vettel - F1 "wrong" to award pole to sprint qualifying winner

Pole position will be given to the winner of Saturday's sprint, not qualiying on Friday

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Thursday 15 July 2021 18:59

Sebastian Vettel has criticised F1's decision to hand pole position to the winner of the inaugural sprint qualifying event.

F1 is trialling the initiative for the first time at this weekend's British Grand Prix, with traditional qualifying moved to Friday night to set the grid for the first 100km sprint on Saturday.

Pole position is to be given to the winner of that race and not the fastest driver over a single lap, a decision former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has labelled as "mucking around".

Article continues under video

On the designation of pole position being given to the winner of Saturday's sprint, Vettel replied with confusion: "So pole goes to the winner of the sprint race? That is wrong.

"Pole is the fastest lap time achieved or the fastest lap time in qualifying. It is all a bit confusing.

"It depends, if this is a one-off, it doesn't do much harm but if we end up having 10 sprint races next year or in the future then I think it is just a bit weird. Pole position should go to the guy who is fastest in one lap.

"Then we just make up sprint pole or something. It is a new discipline. We didn't have it 50 years ago and now we have it so just add a new column to the statistics."

Vettel - Sunday must remain main event

The results of the sprint will determine the grid for Sunday's grand prix, with the sport hoping to provide three days of exciting action across the weekend.

As an F1 fan growing up, Vettel was asked if he would have taken interest in the new format when he was younger.

"I didn't have to worry because there was only one race," he added. "I don't know, I was a hardcore fan so I think I would have watched everything.

"I watched free practice as well so I would have watched the sprint qualifying as well. I don't know. Time will tell.

"It will be interesting to see if people like it or not. I think the main event always has to be Sunday otherwise there is no point hanging around until Sunday, we can just go home or finish the weekend on Saturday night.

"We will see how it goes. It is the first time so let's give it a go."