Ross Brawn "would buy a ticket" for "sensational" sprint

Max Verstappen met sterke start in sprintrace British GP — Photo: © LAT Images

British Grand Prix

Brawn "would buy a ticket" for "sensational" sprint

Verstappen cliched pole for the British GP after winning the inaugural sprint event

Ewan Gale & Ian Parkes

Saturday 17 July 2021 19:25

Ross Brawn revealed his joy after a successful first trial of F1's new sprint format and insisted he would "buy a ticket for that every day".

Red Bull's Max Verstappen secured pole for the British Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton after jumping the Mercedes off the line, holding on for the entirety of a frantic 17 laps.

The pair did battle on the first lap, going side by side at Brooklands and Copse, whilst through the field there was more excitement to be had, with Fernando Alonso involved in much of this.

"It is a completely new concept for F1," said Brawn.

"One of the things we all saw today is a racing driver is a racing driver and they are never going to take it easy so lots of action through the field.

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"The first lap or so was completely nail-biting, sensational. Then we had the little duels for the rest of the race.

"Fernando Alonso's performance was another sensational part of the race. It got my vote for the highlight of the race. I would buy a ticket for that every day. We are very pleased."

F1 will not change "fundamental format" for final two trials

The event's trial is the first of three planned for this season with a mixture of excitement and scepticism surrounding the proposals.

Speaking about the future of the format, Brawn added: "We will let the dust settle on this weekend and spend some time with the FIA and the teams and try and understand if there are some evolutions we want.

"But we won't be changing the fundamental format this year, I think after the three races we can sit down and decide where we go from here but so far, very positive."