What did you think of today’s Sprint Qualifying event? Share your verdict on the Italian Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying race.
RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.
Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.
What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:
Rate the 2021 Italian Grand Prix sprint qualifying race out of 10
- 10 (2%)
- 9 (1%)
- 8 (1%)
- 7 (7%)
- 6 (11%)
- 5 (6%)
- 4 (9%)
- 3 (15%)
- 2 (14%)
- 1 (35%)
Total Voters: 182
Loading ...1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’
A RaceFans account is required to vote. You can register an account here or read more about registering here. When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
View more Rate the Race results:
- Rate the Race: The RaceFans Top 100
- Rate the Race: The RaceFans Bottom 10
- Rate the Race: Circuit ratings
2021 Italian Grand Prix
- Who was to blame for Hamilton and Verstappen’s collision at Monza?
- Friday qualifying needs earlier start after “nearly dark” Monza session – Ricciardo
- Drivers suggest sprint qualifying format changes after processional second race
- Sainz pleased for McLaren despite “worst possible” result for Ferrari
- Red Bull were advised Perez should let Leclerc past – Masi
Debates and polls
- Will Daniel Ricciardo be racing in Formula 1 in 2024?
- Massa wants “justice” over Crashgate. But what penalty did it deserve?
- Should the stewards have taken action over Russell-Verstappen collision?
- After 25 grands prix, has F1’s ground effect revolution improved racing?
- Do late-race standing restarts belong in F1?
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
11th September 2021, 16:03
Once again:
What’s the point!!!
RedEaredRabbit (@redearedrabbit)
11th September 2021, 16:15
Yep. They tried it out. It hasn’t worked. No more of this please.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
11th September 2021, 16:47
Useless. We had one race start now we have 2 race starts.
Merlo
11th September 2021, 17:46
Well the race start is often the only interesting part of the race and now we have two without having to watch a huge number of laps of nothing.
Imre (@f1mre)
11th September 2021, 16:58
That the question I was asking myself throughout the 18 laps of something.
lucifer (@lucifer)
11th September 2021, 17:26
there really is no point to be honest
Carbonized
11th September 2021, 17:35
Once again: Money!
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
11th September 2021, 17:36
I mean, it’s not like I hate sprint races, both have been fine, but yeah, it’s completely pointless and uninteresting.
I know Brawn and the rest of his FOM colleagues are hell bent on continuing this next year, but I really don’t see why unless it’s somehow doing massive tv numbers compared to qualifying, which I very much doubt as it’s half as long and only 10% as interesting as that.
Rick Howell
11th September 2021, 19:33
Continuing this year and next.
Most worthless waste of time ever
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
11th September 2021, 16:04
Take away the start, and it’s just a waiting game until the sprint finishes… Why would, for example, Hamilton fight as hard as possible, if he knows the benefit is virtually none? Why would Verstappen make an effort to catch Bottas if he knows tomorrow he starts first anyway?
Why do we bother?!! and they are trying to expand on this… it’s just madness…
Sam (@undercut677)
11th September 2021, 16:07
Not very good points. The ramifications of Hamilton starting 4th are important for the championship. Max also left a point on the board in the sprint. If they could, they would have moved up.
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
11th September 2021, 17:17
still no point to the spring race. it’s like, what if they handed one point for the fastest times for each of the three practice sessions? the ramifications would still be there, and it would still be pointless
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
11th September 2021, 17:39
If they could easily, sure, they would’ve gone for the point. But there’s no reason to risk starting at the back tomorrow for a single point, especially when you’re only real competitor is behind you.
For Lewis, yes, there is more reason to take a risk, but he simply couldn’t so there’s that, but also for him it’s better to start 4th instead of taking a big risk to start a place higher.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:16
Absolutely, I completely agree with the no risk approach, for both.
Sam (@undercut677)
11th September 2021, 16:04
No one crashed into Gasly, it was a dumb unforced error. Hamilton also is responsible for a terrible start. Hard to claim that their changes in start position are not guaranted.
DeanR (@deanr)
11th September 2021, 16:05
Poor. Lewis in particular was very disappointing. You’ve thrown away a big opportunity AGAIN Lewis. Still… we win together and lose together. Max clearly been the better driver this year.
Swifty (@theswift)
11th September 2021, 16:08
I have to agree, hopefully the race will bring some more overtakes…
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
11th September 2021, 16:05
I vote “garbage.”
And this whole idea is, not just this specific instance.
Dougracing (@dougracing)
11th September 2021, 16:47
+1
Sham (@sham)
11th September 2021, 16:58
+1
I thought Silverstone was OK, but honestly that was just novelty value.
Now the format is known, and the procedures ironed out by the teams, the only real chance for excitement is someone losing out badly.
And I don’t think any real fan wants to see that.
Then again, it isn’t real fans they’re trying to attract with this nonsense.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
11th September 2021, 16:07
I mean, Lewis has been incredibly lucky all season, but he wasn’t here. Interesting.
Also, Latifi outqualified Russell!
f12007v (@f1fan-2000)
11th September 2021, 16:11
Luck is one thing but this was just poor performance. poor start and cant beat a mclaren on an easy to overtake track. With bottas released from his contract lewis is going to struggle to beat him from now.
Racer (@racer)
11th September 2021, 16:16
@f1fan-2000 Monza is not an “easy to overtake track”, particularly if the car you’re following has good traction out of corners and straight line speed, as the McLaren does
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
11th September 2021, 16:19
Yeah it’s odd, Monza is almost Hungary now.
Sham (@sham)
11th September 2021, 16:59
Latifi out qualifying Russell is just another reason the Sprint Quali is a stupid idea.
Balue (@balue)
11th September 2021, 17:22
@hahostolze He was lucky. 2 of the cars in front of him gone. He might have started 6th otherwise. Even lucky not getting damage in the T1 sandwich really.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
11th September 2021, 16:07
Well, nothing really happened.
Which is exactly what I was hoping for!
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
11th September 2021, 16:07
As boring as the first one. Couple of incidents on the first lap, then a snoozefest for the rest of the race…
Travis (@)
11th September 2021, 16:09
What a joke of a format this is.
I ashamedly admit after the first one I thought perhaps it could work, and it isn’t that bad, but after seeing the weekend unfold a second time… wow, just a joke really. Just nothing of the format makes any sense.
Pedro (@pedrike)
11th September 2021, 16:13
+1
lucifer (@lucifer)
11th September 2021, 17:30
+2
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:19
That is what I said, I gave it the benefit of the doubt in the first race (rated 5 myself, 50% of people voted 5 or less) but I said: again like this isn’t gonna work, and here we go again, I rated this one 6 cause there were some cars out of positions like perez or hamilton and it gave some interesting battles, but this time 50% of people voted 1 or 2 and 78% voted 5 or less, which is a significantly worse return ofc.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
11th September 2021, 16:09
Just make it 5 laps. Boring except for Lewis’ major screw up at the start.
Jere (@jerejj)
11th September 2021, 16:10
OK, slightly worse than Silverstone equivalent.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th September 2021, 16:11
having a race to determine the grid for the race is just such an intrinsically stupid idea. So frustrating.
elchinero (@elchinero)
11th September 2021, 16:16
We liked it … but then we like NFL. Go figger, huh?
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
11th September 2021, 16:11
Really not a fan of these sprints. And it’s not just the sprint race but this entire sprint weekend format just falls completely flat for me.
I said yesterday what I didn’t like about how it affects FP1 & what I don’t like about Friday qualifying & again like in Silverstone FP2 felt completely pointless given how they were in parc-ferme & the sprint race itself not only fell flat but also takes away from my excitement going into the GP as we’ve seen a full race build-up & race start as well as how difficult overtaking is around here. It’s also taken away a lot of the unknowns regarding car race performance.
There is honestly nothing about the sprit weekend or sprint race itself that I can say I like.
Niefer (@niefer)
11th September 2021, 16:12
After Belgium and now this we should really consider having 0 as an option.
lucifer (@lucifer)
11th September 2021, 17:31
i wanted a minus but 0 will do
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:21
I think 1 is good enough, every time there’s some scandal such as canada 2019 penalty, silverstone 2021 insignificant penalty and so on there’s a massive of 1 voted, and the same applies here, if you see a race gets voted 1 by 1\3 you know something wrong happened.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:22
Massive amount*
KaIIe (@kaiie)
11th September 2021, 16:12
Apart from the start, meh. Just waiting for it to end.
Aapje (@aapje)
11th September 2021, 16:14
2 or 3 laps out of 18 were good, so it’s hard to give a passing grade.
baasbas
11th September 2021, 16:15
If I focus on the positive: every driver has something to fight for all along the grid. I like that.
Sooo… now ditch the sprint and just make a good points spread rewarding points up to last place.
X1Znet (@x1znet)
11th September 2021, 16:15
Too short — I would hate to have paid to see half as much track action as regular qualifying.
No suspense. In spite of the lulls in the regular qualifying, which are attributable to the short lap, each of the three sessions ends in a certain level of suspense.
Pedro (@pedrike)
11th September 2021, 16:17
Another boring sprint race, seriously, what’s the point if, 1, it devalues the qualifying because it now defines the grid for the sprint race, and the results of the sprint race determines the grid for the race, and only the top 3 scores points in the sprint race?
Taris
11th September 2021, 16:19
In my opinion the problem is not the sprint race. The problem is the cars, they are very difficulty to overtake. If not even Hamilton, with a car much better to Mclaren, on a track considered to be easy to overtake, managed to pass… imagine the level of turbulence that these cars produce. So if you’re complaining about the sprint race, in the main race tomorrow just expect emotion at the pit stop, other than that the difficulty of overtaking is very great, even in Monza.
Hamilton will have a great work tomorrow to overtake the Mclaren if he make a bad start like today.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
11th September 2021, 16:22
0/10.
Awful format, Awful gimmick race.
But of course Sky continue to push the view that it was the greatest thing ever because they clearly just repeat what the Liberty overlords tell them to.
#LibertyOut!
S
11th September 2021, 16:31
Oh @roger-ayles… You seem to hate what F1 has become, but you keep coming back for more every week…
Why?
It’s not going to go back to the way you want it. Never ever.
You know Einstein’s definition of insanity, right?
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
11th September 2021, 16:48
It’s hard to simply turn off something you have loved passionately for nearly 50 years of your life.
This year may well end up been my last however if it ends up been as Indycar+ as i think it may.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
11th September 2021, 17:20
To be fair, you do tend to give races extremely low scores in the rate the race poll. It seems that you and @roger-ayles both hate F1 in its current state, for totally contrasting reasons, an example of why you can’t please everybody.
S
12th September 2021, 2:40
Indeed – but at least I try to suggest ways to improve current F1 rather than simply trying to turn back the clock.
petebaldwin (@)
11th September 2021, 18:18
@roger-ayles – You’ve got that wrong. Sky don’t say what Liberty want them to…. Liberty do what Sky want them to.
Dave
11th September 2021, 18:30
Have you finished doing your secondary rant yet? I’m looking forward to it.
S
11th September 2021, 16:22
And in other news – F1 purists dislike change…
Was it really that much worse than an hour of Practice 3?
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
11th September 2021, 16:29
Yes because FP3 doesn’t hand out points, FP3 doesn’t override the actual qualifying session to decide the grid & FP3 gives you more track action over 60 minutes rather than a 30 minute pointless gimmick procession.
It destroys the thrill & excitement of the real qualifying session by rending it far less relevant & it devalues the real GP race tomorrow as we have seen the start, we have seen a race, we have seen a winner & we have seen how the race tomorrow will likely play out in terms of passing.
It’s simply an awful gimmick with no redeeming features.
S
11th September 2021, 16:35
So you’d prefer a longer session that is a complete and utter waste of time, and achieves nothing of any value at all instead?
Okey dokey.
BTW – qualifying is exactly the same. It just happens a day earlier. And then has another qualifying session after it.
Kinda like it did decades ago, with Friday and Saturday Qualifying sessions….
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
11th September 2021, 17:19
you’re missing the point big time. the problem is not that we are missing out on Practice, the problem is that qualifying is now irrelevant and the race is less exciting
S
12th September 2021, 2:44
@nickthegreek The races are less exciting because F1 races are generally less exciting anyway. These cars are terrible racing cars.
I’d go further and say that the cars themselves aren’t even particularly exciting.
At least sprint races offer an ‘exciting’ part – the start.
GP’s tend to not provide much value after that either, normally.
Robbie (@robbie)
11th September 2021, 16:43
Can’t say I’ve ever been excited by or during a practice session. A race start though? Yeah race starts are always enthralling. Then there’s the tension of what might happen during a race when it is for something, even if in hindsight it ends up being relatively uneventful. Same as can happen on Sundays. There is no tension nor anything enthralling in a practice session. Folks got to see their beloved regular qualifying yesterday, a low fuel sprint today with an enthralling start, and then a regular race tomorrow with it’s usual enthralling start on full fuel and then the tension of what may happen during said race.
amian
11th September 2021, 16:39
You’re acting like a spoiled child calling people “F1 purists” just because you’ve got a different opinion.
It was worse than an hour of Practice 3 indeed. And those medals made it quite comical.
S
11th September 2021, 16:51
Many F1 purists have previously labelled themselves as such, @amian. I’m sorry if that’s offensive to you.
The medals were indeed quite ridiculous, but you can’t honestly tell me that you’d rather watch practice sessions than competitive sessions?
And if you do, then I totally stand by my comment.
petebaldwin (@)
11th September 2021, 18:22
I wouldn’t rather watch FP3 than the sprint race but I’d much rather watch a qualifying session that actually matters.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:25
Yes, pete makes the right point.
S
12th September 2021, 2:48
Of course qualifying matters @petebaldwin – it sets the grid for the sprint.
And the field order didn’t really change much during the sprint, so normal qualifying still has a huge effect on GP start order.
Mirko710
11th September 2021, 16:23
Too bad for Gasly and the safety car. If not for that, it would be a threesome for the fourth and maybe guys on softs would get some rubber issues.
Otherwise, not that bad. Only too short. Like them on low fuel, bunched up.
And NO! to the standalone sprint races. That is pushing it too far…
Pedro Andrade
11th September 2021, 16:29
Either go all the way and try a reverse grid race, or don’t even bother… these half baked solutions don’t work. What we watched was basically just a third of a boring race not paying any points, almost everything that we saw was of no consequence. At some points I started getting excited thinking how this might unfold, only to remember 5 seconds later that this was not the race proper.
Overall, please let’s go back to the normal weekends. Most sports have a well defined structure, and the same should be true of F1. Saturday qualifying, Sunday race, that’s it.
S
11th September 2021, 16:37
Reverse grids would certainly make the session more valuable from both a viewer aspect and from a WDC aspect – but the teams rejected it.
This is as far as F1 can go while the participants have control.
petebaldwin (@)
11th September 2021, 18:24
I’d have qualifying on Friday which decides the Sunday grid. On Saturday, they can do a reverse grid sprint race with half points given.
*Id rather no Sprint race but if they’re going to do it, that would be my preferred format.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:25
Yes, reverse grids are a good idea, we had the confirmation in hungary!
Andrie
11th September 2021, 16:32
I like it! Definitely better than 1 hour of practice session. In fact I don’t usually watch practice 3, but I’ll watch Sprint Race!
Chrtis Marshall (@bumbletorium)
11th September 2021, 16:32
Yes, missed the start, so missed the real action…totally boring
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
11th September 2021, 16:35
Meh.
X2
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
11th September 2021, 16:40
It was not as bad as the scores suggest. It felt a bit short though. Soft tyres would have struggled had there been a few more laps.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:27
But every race is different, you see how significantly more drivers picked soft tyres here compared to silverstone? Back then alonso really struggled in the end, here it didn’t happen, so as a matter of fact, if you had to quickly overtake someone, softs were right here.
Joshua Miles (@milesy-jam)
11th September 2021, 16:43
People don’t seem to get it. The fact that those complaining about the Sprint are watching it is proof that it is working. Of course people are going to watch 30 mins of flat out racing no matter how much or how little overtaking there is over 60 mins of cars circling a track in practice. The Sprint is clearly there with a main reason of boosting viewership figures, and if you’re lucky adding a bit to the show before the main race.
Personally I quite like the idea and hope it stays at 5 events max each year. And of course the racing should be better next year with the new regs, I for these reasons I think the sprint is here to stay.
However if they really want to shake up qualifying they should do a top 10 shootout instead of Q3, with each car getting one lap each to put it on pole. If you’re not convinced by this just search “Bathurst 1000 Top 10 Shootout” and you will be.
slowmo (@slowmo)
11th September 2021, 16:53
@milesy-jam I would have watched an hour of qualifying instead of the sprint race so its really not boosting viewership. The classic qualifying and race format has been fine for 70 years. Fix the car issues and stop with the. gimmicks is all they need do. I was utterly opposed to even testing sprint races as I believe they should’ve seen the results of the new regulations First.
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
11th September 2021, 17:21
that’s a terrible argument, this is racefans and everyone here is an F1 fanatic, of course most of them will watch it. it’s not proof that it’s working
the opinion of the people here is not necessarily indicative of the opinion of the general public. just the fact that they are watching sprint is not indicative either
F1 frog (@f1frog)
11th September 2021, 17:38
I think the problem is that F1 fanatics will watch it whatever happens, therefore it doesn’t really matter what we think. The hope is that people who wouldn’t otherwise watch F1 will watch the sprint because it is only a short race, but I would imagine that after today any non-F1 fans who gave it a go will not tune in to the next one.
Carbonized
11th September 2021, 19:42
There was a Sailing race worth watching in St Tropez today . I made that choice after watching the first sprint. I pocked a few time on the live of this site, went right back to my sailing race no to miss any action. Never thought I would say that but SailGP now beats F1 in my book ,No gimmick, Ill go back tomorrow for another day of racing on the water. Will check F1 after. Maybe Highlights? At this rate I’m afraid to find golf more interesting than F1 0ne day!
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
11th September 2021, 16:44
I tried to go into these prints open minded. Sceptical but willing to have my mind changed.
After the 2 we have seen so far i’m not a fan at all. I just don’t see what it add’s & overall just don’t like how the sprint alters the rest of the weekend & how it makes the other sessions play out.
I’ve already been told that they have already made the decision to add as many as 10 sprint weekends next year with them aiming to ‘trial’ different variations of the sprint format & there is a big push to try & find a way of making the sprint format something they can use at every race.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:29
Same here, and I voted 6 here, so I’m really between the highest!
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
11th September 2021, 22:56
@gt-racer we tried, just like Liberty asked.
They also said they would listened to feedback and if it wasn’t any good, they’d discard it, but it’s been obvious from the start that they were going to bring this in regardless of feedback.
I expect that over the next couple of years that they’ll experiment with having multiple sprint races on a weekend (probably 1 Saturday and 2 Sunday) replace the feature race format.
I’m sticking around for another year because I want to see how the new cars turn out and what difference that makes, but if I had to guess, I doubt I’ll be bothering to renew my subscription in 2023 given the direction of F1
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
11th September 2021, 16:54
This just feels redundant. 3.
Neil (@neilosjames)
11th September 2021, 17:17
Hated the idea, tried to give it a chance but I’m right back where I started. Ruined Silverstone for me and now it’s ruining another of my favourite races.
1. And a future 1 for all the sprint races under the current format.
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
11th September 2021, 17:38
Meh. I think we can safely say that the sprint format doesn’t work.
If they have to keep it (no doubt the powers that be will insist on it) then it absolutely must be an independent race separate from qualifying and the Grand Prix. It defeats the whole purpose of a ‘sprint’ if the drivers need to have one eye on the main race at all times.
Carbonized
11th September 2021, 17:44
and it will be branded a indisputable success by the Liberty tandem. Polls that they cannot rig do not interest them.
David BR (@david-br)
11th September 2021, 17:53
2/10. That’s generous.
What is the point? Bottas drove fine in the ‘sprint qualifying’ for 18 laps but was completely untroubled. Was that a pole-setting performance? No, he did that yesterday. As for the race, one lap of mayhem and then… lap countdown watching.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
12th September 2021, 4:16
And no one had any incentive to challenge him even if they could given he’ll be at the back for the actual race. All a bit silly really.
JL (@j-l)
11th September 2021, 18:10
I’m honestly surprised how bad the reactions are. I actually don’t mind the format, although I might be the only one. I’m not saying it’s better than classic weekends, but I like that they are trying something new.
dot_com (@dot_com)
11th September 2021, 18:10
Ridiculous and unnecessary. The inevitable clash in the first lap, and then a 15 lap procession. Wasn’t even long enough for a nap.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
11th September 2021, 18:23
Trashy commercialism. Oh and those medals look like something handed out after the 4th Annual Cerebral Palsy Fun Walk and 5k in Omaha Nebraska. Then they attached them to key lanyards. At least they skipped the ridiculous wreath.
Steve (@)
11th September 2021, 18:25
Got to say the medal design was just tragic.
Nimba (@nimba)
11th September 2021, 23:05
To further their insistence that a medal was being given out, they made Davide Valsecchi point it out repeatedly, esp. to Bottas who was coolly ignoring it.
Mike Davies (@nanotech)
11th September 2021, 18:44
LOL!!!! And at least they didn’t send them around the circuit in a lorry this time! Baby steps.
Steve (@)
11th September 2021, 18:23
This was obviously a stupid place to have a sprint race, it’s a DRS train. These should be brilliant. The championship rivals want to play safe, those without skin in the game want to race, so it should be mayhem… problem is no on can overtake in F1.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:30
Next time why not make one in monaco?
Dave
11th September 2021, 18:30
Failure.
Mike Davies (@nanotech)
11th September 2021, 18:43
The second coming of Christ could occur in the midst of this event and I’d still rank it a 1/10. Just make it go away.
Mike Davies (@nanotech)
11th September 2021, 18:46
PS that’s the last sprint qualy I’ll be watching. I will read the result here, just like FP1/2/3. No more viewership from me.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
11th September 2021, 19:00
1.-
Another farce.
Another sign that the new owners of Formula 1 and old FIA have the full conviction that the fans are idiots.
Both of them are only interested in making money, anyway.
Like with these ridiculous and unsportsmanlike “sprint qualyifing” …
James (@spirals)
11th September 2021, 19:34
I don’t think I’ve rated a race below a 4 or 5 before because I like watching cars going round in circles, but I gave that one a 2 as I would prefer to have not watched it.
My main problem with it is that it is a huge spoiler for the main race – we now know how hard overtaking is in the top 10, so I fully expect the first part of tomorrow’s race to be as processional at the front as the sprint was.
I dislike that the two championship leaders now won’t start close together and so probably won’t end up racing each other tomorrow. I dislike knowing what the race pace of the cars are before the race has even started. I dislike that a great lap in traditional quali counts for less. I dislike that the sprint peaks at the start and the drivers sound really unexcited at the end.
I am really up for adding some extra action to a weekend but this surely can’t be the best way of doing that.
David BR (@david-br)
11th September 2021, 20:08
@spirals I really like the dislikes, spot on, especially the last one: “I dislike that the sprint peaks at the start and the drivers sound really unexcited at the end.” The pattern seems to be brief excitement at the start and then quickly fizzling out.
Let’s put it in context: it was a qualifying event, supposedly a knife-edge of combining skill, clever setup and pushing at the limit but not over, yet Verstappen was content to drive calmly around behind Bottas knowing he had pole anyhow. How does that match a Q3 final run shoot out? Same goes for virtually every other place after the first lap. Really it all seems to come down to one element: how good your start is. Maybe just make it a one-lap race then.
Nimba (@nimba)
11th September 2021, 20:23
just scrap this bs
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th September 2021, 20:33
Really impressive stats: we went from 50% voting 1-5 to 50% voting 1-2 and 78% voting 1-5, guess that speaks volumes.
Biker56 (@biker56)
11th September 2021, 22:16
Next year’s cars are supposed to improve overtaking – that’s the only possibility of making this ‘sprint’ qualifying thing more than a procession.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
12th September 2021, 4:09
I just found the whole thing so frustrating. It’s (unsurprisingly) no different to the first 18 laps of a grand prix. It just stops a few laps after the stagnation begins before we’d usually start to see strategies play out. I just don’t get it. Watch a grand prix if you’re interested enough in F1. If you’re not, watch the highlights of the grand prix the following day. I just don’t get the point.
jff
12th September 2021, 7:54
I invite everyone who voted low for this sprint race check their own rating and comment after last year’s full race.
There were probably more real battles and overtakes in this sprint than the longer ‘sprint’ after the red flag last year.
Was that really better, or do racefans just like to hate change.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
12th September 2021, 11:07
1 for me. Whilst the sprint itself is ok I can’t buy into the idea that Gasly qualifies 6th then starts last because of the crash. Qualifying should determine race grid fullstop