Williams boss James Vowles has urged Formula 1 to adopt a two-day grand prix weekend which could subsequently result in more venues being added to the 24-round calendar.
The format of a race weekend has been a hot topic recently after F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali underlined the need for the championship to keep exploring a different structure.
Shortening a 300km grand prix was mentioned, as was the idea of reverse grids, but perhaps the main topic of conversation was the number of sprint races each season.
There will be six sprint contests in the 2026 campaign, the same as this year, with Shanghai, Miami, Montreal, Silverstone, Zandvoort and Singapore all set to host a shortened Saturday race next season.
Singapore was a surprise inclusion given how hard it is to overtake around the narrow street circuit so that, plus how many sprints there should be, was raised in the team principal press conference ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Vowels was in the session and instead of tackling sprint races, he reckons the bigger issue is that there are three practice outings during a regular grand prix weekend.
Carlos Sainz, Williams FW47
Photo by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Network
He said: “I’m not worried about Singapore, I think what we see on sprint race weekends is the numbers go up, the audiences go up, so it is generally a hit.
“I’m more someone that would like to debate whether we go to two-day weekends, Saturday, Sunday.
“I’d just reduce the amount of free practice and make it a spectacle but by doing that, and giving back 24 days to the teams, actually you could do a few more race weekends if you wanted.
“So, slightly different out there suggestion but I think six sprints for me is about the right number, I frankly don’t care where they are, it’s absolutely fine being here.”
F1 has in fact trialled a two-day weekend recently, as the series did it at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix during the COVID-affected 2020 campaign. That entailed a 90-minute practice session on the Saturday morning in Imola before qualifying later that day and the grand prix on the Sunday.
Although the other team principals didn’t add to Vowles’ comments in the session, they did offer their own views on the sprint calendar and Singapore, in particular, being on next year’s one.
Aston Martin’s Andy Cowell reckons the regulation overhaul that is due to debut next year could actually make the Singapore sprint an exciting one.
“It will be interesting to see what the overtaking is like next year with the new regulations,” he said. “So we may well see more overtaking and so therefore Singapore being chosen isn’t a problem, the fans love sprint race weekends and we all work for the fans.
Toto Wolff, Executive Director of Mercedes AMG F1 Team James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams and Andy Cowell, Team Principal and Group CEO at Aston Martin F1 Team in the Team Principals Press Conference
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
“I therefore support it and exactly the same as Steve, maybe you could do more but 24 might be a push too far.”
That ‘Steve’ he mentioned was Steve Nielsen, who recently joined Alpine after stints at Caterham, Toro Rosso, Williams and the FIA.
Nielsen has changed his opinion on sprint races since seeing them in action, so much so that he thinks there should be more on the calendar.
“I think sprint races have been a good thing,” he said. “Maybe I’m a lone voice on the couch here, but I think sprint races have been a good thing and I say that as somebody who to begin with was not that enthusiastic.
“I would like to see more of them and I think when we do races now, where we have three free practice sessions, it seems very long and I think it would be nice for the guys in the grandstands to have, well guys and girls rather, to have more stuff to look at.
“So I would be an advocate of having more sprint races and I’m happy there’s one in Singapore. I think there’s a happy sort of number, I’m not sure what it is, greater than six, less than 24 but yeah, it wouldn’t work everywhere but I think we can definitely do more than we do.”
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
Take our survey
– The Autosport.com Team
Read the full article here