Toto Wolff calls for sprint changes after witnessing "too much randomness" at Silverstone

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

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Wolff calls for sprint changes after witnessing "too much randomness" at Silverstone

Blistering caused tyre blowouts during last year's event

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Saturday 17 July 2021 20:25 Updated: 20:29

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has called for changes to be made to F1's new sprint format weekend after declaring there to be "too much randomness" with the process.

F1 managing director motorsports Ross Brawn declared what unfolded at Silverstone as a success, although is ready to consult with teams, drivers and fans before going ahead with the concept on a more extended basis next season.

Brawn's preferred plan is that no more than six races in 2022 are turned into a sprint weekend that at present has the qualifying on Friday evening and the 100-kilometre event on Saturday afternoon.

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A further two trials will take place at the Italian Grand Prix and a flyaway event later in the year that will be confirmed once the races are finalised.

"Overall it is a good add on," said Wolff. "I don’t see it at every race. I think there is too much randomness.

"If you see Checo [Sergio Perez] spinning out and then retiring, last is not the place that Sergio Perez should be and therefore, for him, it could work really against you if you are one of the front runners.

“There is too much randomness but if the next few ones go like this one, it has a place in the calendar in a limited form.

"I agree that Saturday morning FP2 is a bit random but you need to have a session where you are long-running and because you don’t know the fuel weights, the results are actually irrelevant. Only the team knows.

“So we can tweak the format a little bit but fundamentally, if we do five races like this, I am pro.”

Hamilton has what he needs to pass Verstappen - Wolff

Lewis Hamilton will start from second on the grid after seeing his table-topping Friday qualifying lap cancelled out by Red Bull's Max Verstappen who was quicker off the line.

Wolff conceded it was “annoying” to have dropped the spot to Verstappen, bumping Mercedes off pole position at Silverstone for the first time since the 2012 British Grand Prix.

But he is confident that in the more strategic full-length race Hamilton will benefit from the Mercedes' straight-line speed advantage to pass Verstappen at some point.

Wolff said: “When you lose the race starting from pole that’s annoying. We have pace, that’s the good news.

"If Lewis runs in front it would be the same kind of race, so we just need to take it on the chin and do it well tomorrow.

“We’ve changed a little bit how we approach it. We had a good half first lap, and I think with DRS we can overtake.

"It’s just today when you can really push flat-out, which he did, it is very difficult to come close, but in the race, you need to manage a little bit more.”