F1 not ruling out Saturday title-decider in 2022

Ross Brawn is refusing to rule out the distinct possibility next year's F1 title could be decided on a Saturday rather than traditionally after a grand prix on a Sunday.

F1 is to double the number of its sprint events in 2022 from the current three to six, although no decision has been taken as yet as to which grands prix will be hosts, with another proposed change being a greater spread of points.

At present, only the top three finishers claim points, with three for the winner, two for the runner-up, and the third-place finisher claiming one.

One suggestion on the table is that as a sprint is a third of a race distance, so the points awarded will be roughly a third of those currently applied to a grand prix, so potentially eight for the winner, six for the runner-up and so on.

That opens the door to a sprint event proving decisive, rather than a grand prix.

Asked if F1 was desperately keen to avoid sprint events later in the season, and in turn negate the possibility of a championship being won on Saturday, F1 managing director Brawn said: "I wouldn't say desperately keen.

"I'd say it's not the best. We all love a cliffhanger, last race of the season. Maybe we will get one this year, which will be fantastic.

"But if a driver could win a championship on a Saturday with a sprint and somebody needed to stop him, then that would be a pretty exciting aspect to it. You'd certainly bring a new nuance to it.

"We'd all like to see a championship won on the last Sunday of a season but it doesn't very often happen.

"I think it will have a gentle impact on the races we choose but we won't be pushing the last events so far forward that it couldn't possibly happen."

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