Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen Gang Up in a Ballistic Rant Against F1’s Controversial Idea at Chinese GP

“Yeah, it’s very smart to do that,” Max Verstappen said sarcastically when asked about the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix. Why the sarcasm? Well, it’s because of the weekend format Formula 1 has chosen for the Grand Prix. The Shanghai International Circuit, known for its unique design inspired by the Chinese character ‘shang,’ is making a grand return to the F1 calendar after it was dropped by the sport 4 years ago in 2019.

However, despite being one of the favorite tracks amongst drivers, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were left disappointed by F1’s decision to host the first of the six Sprint Race Weekends this season in China. While we know that Verstappen is not very happy with the Sprint Races, his reasons for disliking the Chinese GP to be a Sprint weekend are genuine.

The updated Sprint format for 2024 only gives one Free Practice session to the drivers to get used to a circuit and find the best setup for their car. And for the drivers, who haven’t experienced the track for 4 years, 60 minutes is a very short amount of time to not only get familiar with the track but also to push the car ahead of Sprint qualifying.

What’s also discouraging for the drivers is that the Shanghai International Circuit has reportedly resurfaced, so the teams and the drivers can’t rely on any past data to help inform their decisions during the weekend.

“It’s not great to do that because when you have been away from a track for quite a while, I think you never know what you’re going to experience,” Max Verstappen told Autosport.com when asked about F1’s decision to host the Sprint Race Weekend in China. “So it would have been better to have a normal race weekend there… Purely from a driving and performance perspective of the sport, I think it’s not the smartest thing to do. We’ll see what we get there.“

Carlos Sainz echoed a similar sentiment to Verstappen. He told Autosport, “It’s what we said in the drivers’ briefing to the FIA and Formula 1. With these kinds of cars, to go to a track with one hour of practice and straight into qualifying, with the regulations that they put on us, with the plank wear and things like this and how tricky one bump could make the car, I think it’s not a good choice to put the sprint [there] after four or five years of absence. We also heard there’s been resurfacing going on. Maybe for you guys at home, it’s exciting, but for engineers and drivers, in my opinion, we shouldn’t take the risk and have a normal weekend.”

The Sprint Format will indeed pose a big problem for the teams and drivers, but it’s far from the only trouble they will face during the weekend.

Just how challenging will the 2024 Chinese GP be for the teams?

One of the biggest unknowns for the teams will be the new ground effect cars. While they offer more downforce, making them stick closer to the track, they’re much more sensitive to the bumps, and the Shanghai circuit had plenty of those. The resurfacing efforts after FIA’s inspection mean that the teams will gain no benefit from their past track data.

Another problem for the teams will be the dirt on the track since it has only been used sparingly in the recent past. With just one hour of practice to put the rubber down, teams will have to be cautious of how hard they can push ahead of the qualifying hour. That said, Pirelli will also face a huge problem in deciding the tire compounds for the weekend because of the lack of data and recent resurfacing.

Simone Berra, Pirelli’s Chief engineer told Autosport, “It’s like a new circuit, honestly. Because we have new cars, new tires, the 18-inch [rims]… And we need to understand even from tarmac measurement pre-event how it has changed. In the past, it was quite rough in terms of both micro and macro roughness. We need to understand how aging has gone in the last years… It will be a big challenge, not just for us, but for the teams even more probably.“

The Sprint format will only make these issues worse for the teams and the drivers. Should F1 have gone for a normal race weekend in China? Share your thoughts on the matter.