McLaren must be "sharp" to take advantage of sprint

Norris, Ricciardo, McLaren, Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

McLaren must be "sharp" to take advantage of sprint

F1's first sprint weekend of the year takes place at Imola

Ewan Gale

Thursday 21 April 2022 13:00

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McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl believes the team will need to be "sharp" in order to capitalise on the first sprint event of the season.

F1 ushers in the first of the reshuffled weekend formats at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with qualifying taking place on Friday before a 100km sprint on Saturday to set the grid for Sunday's race.

The Woking-based team has scored with both cars in the two races Imola has hosted since returning to the calendar in 2020 and will be hoping to continue its more promising form from Australia.

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“We have a good track record in Imola since it returned to the calendar in 2020, with double points for the team at both races," explained Seidl.

"We aim for the same this year, but a track like Imola often creates opportunities and the addition of the sprint format for this weekend means we’ll need to be operationally sharp and ready to capitalise."

F1's new regulations have allowed for closer, more exciting races in each of the opening three events.

But with Imola providing a narrower, more traditional challenge compared to Bahrain and the two street circuits in Saudi Arabia and Australia, Seidl said: “It will be interesting to see how the improved overtaking from these new cars will impact racing" at the "historic" venue.

"With the grid for Sunday determined by the sprint, there is bound to be plenty of exciting racing for the fans, now with the added incentive of points for the top eight on Saturday."