Max Verstappen Lashes Out on New F1 Initiative: “That’s How I Grew Up Racing”

Fridays are considered to be a dull affair for most F1 fans before the race weekend. Hence, F1 introduced sprint races in 2021 to reinvigorate their interest, shifting the qualifying to Fridays. The defending champion, Max Verstappen, is, however, not a big fan of the format.

Last week Moto GP announced that there will be sprint races every weekend in 2023. F1, on the other hand, introduced sprint races in 2021 for just 3 races and continued that for the 2022 season as well. It reignited the debate around the concept after drivers were asked what they felt about the possibility of F1 following the Moto GP model.

What Max Verstappen feels about the impact of Sprint Qualifying

Max Verstappen won both the Sprint races held during the Emilia-Romagna GP and the Austrian GP weekend. The third one yet to be held will be at the Brazilian GP. Despite doing well in the format, the Dutch driver is not a fan of having them every weekend.

He said, “That Sunday emotion and feeling should be special, that’s the only time you race. That’s how I grew up racing anyway. Sunday is the day to race.”

He said that not a lot has changed in terms of the results if we are to go by the already concluded sprints. Expressing his concerns, he said that everyone uses the same tire and is afraid of crashing because then they’ll have to start the main race from the back. Summing up his emotions on the idea of having a sprint race every weekend, he said, “I just don’t like it”.

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The 2021 Red Bull champion is not the only driver who feels this way, though.

Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas are also not fans of F1 Sprints happening every race weekend

Upon learning about Moto GP’s decision to introduce a sprint every weekend, AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda said he was “surprised”.

On whether F1 should follow suit, he said that he didn’t see any benefit in it. He continued, “It’s not like we want to see it every time, I think. Especially [with] this busy, tight schedule. So I think we don’t have to [have] that much sprint qualifying in Formula 1.”

Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas echoed a similar sentiment. He was also of the opinion that they should have less practice. He said, “I don’t think we need to have sprints every weekend. But just less practice.”

Watch This Story: Timeline of Kelly and Max’s relationship.

Sprint qualifying sessions are a fun addition to F1. But can having those sprints every weekend kill their charm? These three gentlemen certainly think so.