Formula 1 could reduce the number of practice sessions it holds during a race weekend from three to one if the CEO Stefano Domenicali’s new proposal wins backing.
Domenicali told media including RaceFans he plans a “very aggressive” push to cut the amount of practice which takes place during grand prix weekends and hold more sessions which award points or other prizes.“I think to see from a fan perspective that every day there is something to fight for on the track is very important,” he said.
“I mean, free practice is very interesting for the engineers or for the drivers. But at the end of the day, in sport, you need to fight for something.
“There are already limitations on the calendar to have free practice out[side] of the racing weekend. So I will be very aggressive to have one free practice in the morning on Friday and then every time we go on the track, something to be awarded.
“Because in that respect, there is some action going on, people are always connected to understand what is happening. So this will be my input for the discussion on the future. Every time we will be on the track – with the respect of the race on Sunday, that has to be always the most important part of it – there should be something to fight for in terms of points, in terms of awards. That’s my opinion.”
The F1 boss will put his proposal forward at the next meeting of the F1 Commission, which has the power to approve changes for the 2023 season and send them to the World Motor Sport Council for ratification.
The commission will also discuss potential changes to the existing sprint race format and an increase in the number of those events from three to six, which was blocked by the FIA earlier this year. Motorcycle racing series MotoGP has recently introduced a similar format which will be used at all of its rounds next year.
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“I would say it’s good that also Moto GP is trying to embrace a different proposition on the weekend,” said Domenicali. “As always, when you change something – I remember last year – you have people that are in favour, people that are not in favour. This is part of, as I say, the normal discussion.
“There are reasons why we are working to have a six [sprint] races next year. We are working together with the FIA to finalise the details.
“We are ready also to work on details to change something on the extra sprint format that will be discussed in the next F1 Commission. But at the end of the day, if the people that are following the grands prix or the MotoGP races are happy and the promoters are happy and media are happy, I would say that the outcome should be easy to find in terms of a solution.”
“What we want to discuss in the next F1 Commission is how to, let’s say, make some correction on the actual sprint format to see if there is something that we can improve or any other idea,” he added.
“Following what I said, I would like to see any single session apart from the first, maybe, on the track to award something. This is something that I’m really keen to discuss with the drivers and the teams and of course with the FIA, because I think that will add the intensity that everyone wants to see when you are on the track.”
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jff
24th August 2022, 22:13
With the risk of being lynched here: I don’t mind two sprint races of which one is a reverse grid (averaging out the grid positions) during a race weekend, as long as it counts to a sprint cup and not messes with the regular WDC.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
24th August 2022, 22:33
I would t mind either, and actually would prefer to count it towards the WDC. I would keep practices to a minimum, maybe do away with it altogether.
stefano (@alfa145)
24th August 2022, 23:41
you have never raced in your life, haven’t you
Red Pill (@redpill)
25th August 2022, 2:53
@pmccarthy_is_a_legend I’m with stefano @alfa145 on this one.
True racing would be cast aside for the sake of creating spectacles that are low value and not true completion events. Or maybe in the sprint races we just give the drivers gladiator weapons to duke it out like a Mad Max film to help spice it up even more for the viewers?
SaMa (@f1g33k)
25th August 2022, 6:21
There is nothing called as true racing. It is extremely subjective and has evolved over the years. I would hark back to the 1950s and call that true racing, which would be impossible to replicate in today’s world.
I am not that much invested in Fridays anyway. The teams already come to the track with a very effective base setup, and it does kind of feel pointless that they are doing the practice sessions to find the last 0.1 second.
I understand the need for more practice at grassroots level where everything is still rudimentary but F1 is beyond that and the practice sessions really don’t do much for the weekend, apart from hearing commentators discuss something apart from the run-of-the-mill stuff as they don’t have much track action to commentate on.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
25th August 2022, 11:33
@alfa145 oh please do explain all things racing related great master wizard of motor racing. Thank you for gracing us with your presence in the comments section of this website.
S
25th August 2022, 12:06
It’s okay, @pmccarthy_is_a_legend.
@alfa145 may have been a racer, but has clearly forgotten that for F1, they are a viewer.
But then, it’s all about personal preference. Even as racers, some of us don’t like, or even need, much practice.
Nor do we need F1 to be purity in its purest form. Whatever that means.
Red Pill (@redpill)
25th August 2022, 19:07
@johnrkh @glynh @alfa145
Let be honest, why does F1 even need F1 drivers now a days? What’s the big deal?
Instead, how about every season F1 rotates different reality TV stars to race the cars, new F1 fans can vote on who gets to drive them next.
Just think, Liberty-F1, Netflix and You tube could do all kinds of lead-in programming shows to watch these reality stars trying to prepare for their big race. The drama and excitement would be mind blowing and the $$$!
We could get those heart felt, tear jerking close-up interviews of the reality star in their living room talking about all the sacrifices they made to get ready for the big race. Then when they crash out, we could hear more interviews of their heroic attempt to win.
X1Znet (@x1znet)
24th August 2022, 22:17
This is part of the silly season, isn’t it?
There’s no reason to change what is not broken. If something like this had been implemented in a few years ago, it would have just been Mercedes collecting more awards or points and would have caused more harm than good.
How many other sports have thousands of fans watching and attending practice sessions where there is “nothing at stake”?
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
24th August 2022, 22:58
@x1znet I am one of those thousands of fans who is quite happy to watch the cars zoom by with nothing at stake. Taking your MB comment, I agree that giving dominant teams more opportunities to score points and help consolidate a championship advantage is not healthy for the sport.
I do suspect that this is a ‘kite flying’ exercise and possibly even at the behest of someone more senior, hopefully a hurricane comes along and destroys the kite before this goes any further.
Matt (@hollidog)
25th August 2022, 14:03
Agreed, I love Fridays at the race weekend, gives you an opportunity to walk around the track, taking in the viewing points from all around the circuit without worrying that you are going to miss something critical from the action
grat
24th August 2022, 22:22
Just scrap practice. Scrap testing, and let’s have the grid determined by an actual knockout competition held in the paddock. Bring your own breakaway chairs, and let’s call it WWF1.
Stefano: This is officially the stupidest quote I’ve ever heard from you. You are madly trying to fix that which isn’t broken, and ignoring that which is. If your goal is the destruction of Formula 1, you’re on the right path.
Forrest (@forrest)
25th August 2022, 0:33
It is pretty obvious at this point that F1 has decided they’d rather be “sports entertainment” like WWE or Nascar has become, than a real sport. I will probably take years, but this approach will eventually come back to haunt them.
SaMa (@f1g33k)
25th August 2022, 6:29
It has been entertainment for a long time. India even taxed F1 as entertainment and not sports. F1 is even called a travelling circus.
The primary intent is entertainment for the viewers, much like an unscripted TV show. The competition is meant to appeal to the teams that are in it for the marketing.
Red Pill (@redpill)
25th August 2022, 3:00
@forrest and grat
I completely agree. By the way things are going F1 is being turned into a quick tune-in entertainment event regardless if it’s an honest competition or not. F1 sounds like they want WWE value and cash in. What happened to real open wheeled car racing and tech development? All that is being tossed aside for cheap thrills to make a buck.
How can F1 be taken seriously if they keep going in this direction?
Qeki (@qeki)
25th August 2022, 5:08
F1 is evolving as is the world. In the end whatever they do the nature law will be the final one which will determinate the outcome. It could be the public, the teams, the drivers or something else. People who are in the charge of these things are humans after all. Yeah, as they are there they should be the best ones for the job but it seems that they can make the wrong decisions. Imagine if we would still be racing without seatbelts, only hale bales to protect the drivers when they crash, racing 100 laps around nordschleife. This new weekend system where everyone can get points in every session could be the 1000 times better than something we will have in the next 15 years. In the end it doesn’t matter if it works or not but even though I would love to see F1 back as it was when I was a kid between the milleniums and stay it like that but in the end I also love to see Ferrari red and not black/white.
grat
25th August 2022, 16:17
Why are you trying to equate safety with a dramatic downward turn in the ability for teams to prepare for championship deciding events?
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
24th August 2022, 22:28
Are we going to start giving out points in pre-season testing as well? Just seems like format tweaking for format tweakings sake.
Lee1
25th August 2022, 11:13
I think they should stop giving out points for placing and instead use a system more like Ice skating where you get style points and points for doing certain things on track, like hitting an apex 3 times in a row or doing a 360 on a straight. Also we can then have an online voting system that then gives points to the winner. Also perhaps we can give points for the driver with the most tik tok dance videos…
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th August 2022, 22:42
Why stop there? Award points for the Thursday press conferences. Points for the drivers’ briefings. Points for the most vigorous waving during the pre-race drivers’ parade. And points for an e-sports race to round off the weekend like the GT3s have.
Liberty are treating F1 like they’re creating a homeopathic medicine – they think that by diluting the product over and over again, they will eventually arrive at something much more potent. What they’ll actually get is a product that does nothing at all, even if it makes a few people feel better by chance.
bosyber (@bosyber)
25th August 2022, 8:57
Or give all drivers a mandatory camera and monitor it for quotable/memeable stuff – oh and if they misbehave a FIA report why they needed the penalty points; isn’t that much cheaper than more sessions on track too?
glynh (@glynh)
24th August 2022, 22:47
This makes no sense. F1 drivers barely get any practice as it is, simulators just aren’t the same.
It’s like telling football players that they can’t touch a ball between matches…
Red Pill (@redpill)
25th August 2022, 3:04
@glynh And how can new technology be developed without being tested? The cars that new viewers see now racing is because of decades of practice and testing sessions, refining crude ideas into reliable and brilliant machines.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
24th August 2022, 23:04
Dominicalli is giving Trump and Mitt Romney a run in the race of who will do absolutely anything for a buck. Absolutely shameless.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
24th August 2022, 23:09
I thought Sean Bratches was a joke of a human being until this buffoon came along.
We have to accept it folks.
F1 is now owned by people who quite simply do not care about F1.
Sam
24th August 2022, 23:56
Amazes me that two individuals (him and Brawn) who ran Ferrari during some of the most memorable season in F1 history (when Schumacher and Alonso performed miracles in inferior machinery) would be so willing to change the DNA of the sport.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
25th August 2022, 0:08
@nullapax yeah, I thought Bratches was out of touch as well but it seems that as soon as you join Liberty, any prior knowledge of F1 is extracted from your brain and substituted with silly ideas to make more money.
All we need now is for one of them to say that Bernie’s idea of sprinklers needs to be trialled and F1 is complete.
Martin (@f1hornet)
24th August 2022, 23:18
If I wanted that, then I would go watch the British Touring Car Championship! I’m not gonna spend my whole weekend watching F1 sessions, and if it’s for fans at the track get more support races.
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
26th August 2022, 5:26
@f1hornet exactly. I don’t follow Australian Supercars (even though I live in Australia) because it’s too hard to keep track and watch all the races.
I like F1 because there’s Qualifying on Saturday and the Grand Prix on Sunday and that’s it. I can schedule it in and watch it and enjoy it. I already struggle to follow the sprint weekends.
stefano (@alfa145)
24th August 2022, 23:37
oh yes, surely dilution of anything will make more of the good thing you are diluting. why not print infinite money? I see no problem with that
David BR (@david-br)
24th August 2022, 23:51
@alfa145 +1
Really expected better than this from Domenicali. Now wondering why.
stefano (@alfa145)
24th August 2022, 23:56
just imagine the situation where a driver automatically wins a championship with the points earned during a practice session… that would be a low point hard to beat for any sport
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
25th August 2022, 15:11
@alfa145 no one is saying points will be awarded for practice sessions. You misunderstood the article, they are saying that they want to reduce practice and introduce more points paying elements to the weekend, whatever they may be, that’s to be defined.
People like to be up in arms for no reason on the internet, please pay attention to what was said a bit more carefully.
Errol
24th August 2022, 23:45
So we might have a championship being won in a practice session instead of a race. What a disappointment that would be
Sam
24th August 2022, 23:49
I can see arguments for and against less practise but please only have one session per weekend which awards points. There are already more F1 races per year than hold my interest so I don’t want to miss more events with direct implications for the championships. The more I miss the less I am interested in F1 (there are plenty of other series which are not oversaturated).
DaveW (@dmw)
25th August 2022, 0:07
Good point. It’s why I can’t follow baseball. During the season individual games are basically meaningless and unless you are a hardcore fan it’s just background noise on the tv at the bar.
bosyber (@bosyber)
25th August 2022, 8:58
Well said, that’s definitely my view too Sam and @dmw
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
24th August 2022, 23:50
In the category of “any other idea,” get rid of the points. Have 28 races, mostly on street circuits in the States, but without any championship or narrative (although ****flix can invent one several months later if they like) See how that looks.
Adrian
25th August 2022, 0:01
F1 needs less races in places no one wants to travel to.
DaveW (@dmw)
25th August 2022, 0:05
All the good jokes about this have been made here. I would only add that this would probably just mean an increase in volatility and increase in field spread: It’s more likely a top team will roll off the truck with a bad set up. But a lot more likely Aston Martin and Williams will be seconds off the pace and not fix things in one session.
Also I enjoy seeing the stories and drama that develop on the technical side as the teams use practice to try new things and improve the car.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
25th August 2022, 0:35
Youtube is pushing the content creators to make more and more content but shorter and more catchy, so what we will be left with is five or ten-minute shallow sketches of no substance or intellectual value.
F1 is going down the same track :) removing anything you may need to pay attention to and replacing it with short flashy overall meaningless events designed to keep people with short attention spans and the marketing department of the Corporates happy.
I said this a while ago, Look to an attempt to shorten the Sunday race in the future maybe after 2025.
Red Pill (@redpill)
25th August 2022, 3:23
@johnrkh @glynh
Let be honest, why does F1 even need F1 drivers now a days? What’s the big deal?
Instead, how about every season F1 rotates different reality TV stars to race the cars, new fans can vote on who gets to drive them.
Just think, F1.com, Netflix and Youtube could do all kinds of lead-in programming shows to watch these reality stars trying to prepare for their big race. The drama and excitement would be mind blowing and the $$$!
We could get those heart felt, tear jerking close-up interviews of the reality star in their living room talking about all the sacrifices they made to get ready for the big race.
Johnny
25th August 2022, 0:40
No.
No, it doesn’t.
Stop trying to fix what isn’t broken in the sport!
PeterG
25th August 2022, 0:41
I can honestly see myself walking away from F1 in the next few years and ending my 37 year love affair with it as i honestly am starting to despise the direction the Americans are taking it.
Coventry Climax
25th August 2022, 1:38
What a fruitcake.
Chances I’m watching F1 next season are getting pretty slim.
Maciek (@maciek)
25th August 2022, 2:44
Money, money, money, it’s all about money. Err, sorry, I meant synergizing stakeholders with fan engagement.
Rick
25th August 2022, 2:48
After loving this sport since the days of seeing Jim Clark I fear I’m done here.
Welcome to WWF of motor sports enjoy.
Dale Wickenheiser
25th August 2022, 3:36
Does anyone actually read these comments or is this just a way for fans to vent and nobody cares? First, I think F1 have done a great job with the car design and that has created better racing. That has been appreciated this year and the people who made those decisions should be thanked. However, regarding this article, I agree with the others – this is a bad idea. I don’t watch the sprint races now and I don’t like that they’re a part of the championship. All the sprint does is give the fast teams a chance to score more points and make it even more pathetic looking when they win by astronomical amounts. I believe that tweaking the point structure of the Sunday race will add some additional interest to the current situation (give points from 19 down to 1 all the way to 19th place). Make 11th place worth more than 19th. And while we’re at it, since nobody reads this anyway, put the contract negotiations off until the off season – I think it’s a strike against F1 that teams will spend half a season knowing their driver is leaving – what’s the point of watching? Either let drivers switch teams mid- season or wait until the season is over. Stupid.
Coventry Climax
25th August 2022, 19:36
Well, there you have it, someone actually reading your comment.
I agree the new design for cars is helpful, but that’s about it for positive news, as far as I’m concerned.
They completely missed the opportunity to ditch DRS.
Despite the grow and income, they still want these sprint thingies -completely agree with you there-, and now, points for every wave and fart the drivers do.
I’ve posted your same points idea before, more or less: My points system is related to the number of contestants you beat: If you’re one of 20 cars on the grid and you beat 19 to finish first, you get 19 points. If there’s only 5 contestants, you can finish first, but you’ve only beaten four, so 4 points.
Back to Dementicali, FIA and Liberty: F1 used to be a technology sport, but the FIA hampers development more and more. And indeed, if there’s nothing new you can design, there’s no need to test it either.
Then there’s this doing away with practice sessions. There is no other sport where the sportsmen/-women do not get to practice before a major event. To me, this means two things: 1) F1 is no longer a sport and 2) a Grand Prix, despite the fancy name, is no longer a major event.
Even after some 45 years of following F1, I very, very much doubt I’ll be back next year.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
25th August 2022, 4:00
Practice is one of my favourite parts of the weekend when at the track live. You can see and appreciate cars from a variety of corners without feeling like you’ve missed too much. Qualy and the race I tend to hunker down in one spot with a screen to follow what’s happening.
S
25th August 2022, 5:37
Sites such as this is where we find people who are not in favour.
My level of surprise at the tone of this comments section is zero. At most.
Nobody goes to any other sporting event to watch practice either. Nor do many others televise their practice sessions, because they are an expensive time slot with very little value.
F1 teams are testing 24/7 in the virtual world now, which they weren’t in the past. They extract more meaningful data from one hour-long practice session now than they used to get in an entire season.
It’s too much time being wasted outside of competition, I say.
I will proudly say that I support this proposal.
When I go to an event, or when I watch it on TV – I want to see a competition. That’s what sport is about.
Give me on-track action. The more, the merrier. The greater the challenge the teams face, the greater the value and reward, and the more I (as a viewer) get from it.
If I wanted to see a story build over (what feels like) 3 days, I’d watch a Hollywood movie, or read a book.
Or do anything except watch something that calls itself a sport. One of the most action-packed and exciting, according to the media…
JohnH (@johnrkh)
25th August 2022, 12:22
@S
Nonsense, Football Rugby Cricket all hold open days so fans can watch them practice. Tennis players practice in front of crowds at Grandslams.
Motor Racing has always attracted decent crowds for Practice because many fans are actually interested in the intricacy of it all. Just the thrill of walking through the pits smelling the mix of Castrol R and the high octane fuel* and hearing the engines rev while mechanics tried to get them ready is great.
Watching the teams struggle with setups and setbacks the drama of fighting time to meet a deadline, so that’s not you…take up gardening and just watch on Sunday :)
*Gone now but was once a very heady aroma.
S
25th August 2022, 13:29
A tiny handful. Not just in relative terms, either.
The costs and liabilities of having some people turn up to football or cricket practice session are nothing compared with F1.
Again, a tiny handful. In no small part because, in F1:
Only the wealthiest (or invited/paid for) people get this opportunity now.
The only places most people get to do this now are at things like the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, and there’s nothing ‘modern F1’ there.
On the contrary. That is very me, but it isn’t F1 anymore.
The days of trackside engineering in F1 are long gone. All teams prepare 3 setups and a couple of variations at the factory now, and that’s all they do at the track. Telemetry tells them everything that the simulators miss, so they don’t even need to wait for (or listen to) the drivers opinion.
Silfen (@silfen)
25th August 2022, 6:12
It’s all about the money
It’s all about the dum dum…….
And I don’t think It’s funny
to see it fade away
It’s all about the money
It’s all about the …
I think they got it all wrong, anyway
Mayrton
25th August 2022, 6:44
What a horrible plan, fully in line with the sign of the times. The circusation of a once magical sport that actually built up to something instead of perpetual and instant serving its customers McDonalds. Liberty will lead the way all to the bottom. Such a shame
Gary
25th August 2022, 6:45
I get the feeling that Stefano studied marketing at a local community college.
S
25th August 2022, 7:41
Can you tell me which day of F1’s events achieves the most ticket sales?
Why do you think that might be?
If the races (competitive sessions) are the most popular, why wouldn’t you make more of the weekend’s track time like that?
About 1/4 of the audience turns up for Fridays because it doesn’t count for anything – however, Friday attendance on Sprint weekends has risen markedly…
People want competition and racing action, not practice sessions.
Which marketing school did you go to?
Craig
25th August 2022, 11:18
Your conclusion is based on a fallacy (and a determination to be devil’s advocate judging by most of your comments). More races doesn’t mean more ‘on track action’ (F1’s sprint weekends actually have 30 minutes less). If you want a prime example look at BTCC; there’s 3 races in 1 day, each more or less equal as multi race weekends should be, yet the first 2 frequently quieten down quite quickly so drivers can avoid damage that could put them out of the rest of the day’s races with the final race of the day being where most of the action takes place. That third race has no more points on offer and usually has a partially reversed grid, but with no risk of missing the next race there’s more reason to push.
S
25th August 2022, 11:56
But they are on the same day, Craig….
There’s no trying to attract an audience for each one individually, as F1 does with their 3 day events.
How many people turn up to watch BTCC on non-competitive days, anyway?
As for the in-race action – it’s not really any different in F1 either, whether sprint or GP. The first couple of laps are a bit frantic as that’s the best opportunity to make up position, and then everyone settles in to conservation mode just in case something happens later on. If there’s an opportunity late on, then it sparks up again. With 3 races, the third is the final opportunity…
If F1 were running multiple races on the same day, it would inevitably play out the same way there too. Even now without multiple competitive sessions in one day, teams still play it safe in Practice 3 so they aren’t impacted in qualifying. You can’t rebuild a race car in 30 minutes anymore…
There isn’t a sport in the world where competitors don’t consider the following session and balance their risk/reward.
Aussie Supercars uses that 3-race format sometimes too (they use several formats) and a similar thing can happen. However, what can also play out is that a team might figure that since everyone else will be playing it safe at a certain time, they’ll take extra risks and make significant gains from that. It provides a nice strategic element, and regularly results in different finishing orders – especially if the finishing order of one race becomes the starting order for the next.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
25th August 2022, 7:28
If this happens I’d so SO SO love to see the championship being decided by a point paying practice session… see how they deal with it.
And I’d also love to see them stop refering to the fans, they care nothing about them…
S
25th August 2022, 7:37
You’d think people would have learned and accepted by now (after least year, in particular) that a winning a season-long championship takes more than one session.
I don’t really see how taking the championship with 4 or more races to go is any better than taking it in a ‘practice’ session.
(Ignoring the fact that they aren’t talking about awarding points for practice, but using that track time as competitive sessions (ie. races) instead.)
The fans you speak of are not the ones they are particularly interested in.
Those ones will either keep watching because they always have, or will stop and be replaced.
They are also the ones who’ve been holding F1 back from potentially achieving it’s full potential, as they generally refuse any form of change or adaptation over time.
Jere (@jerejj)
25th August 2022, 8:12
Middle East events effectively only need one FP anyway, which in these cases is FP2.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind the following weekend format option I’ve thought:
Friday: FP2 & Time Trial similar to 2003-05 QLF format, but with all drivers doing, for example, 5 flying laps in previous-race result reverse order or previous-season final standings to an extent for a season-opener.
Saturday: Without another FP (but with Sprints in some events), only QLF.
Sunday: Race.
BasCB (@bascb)
25th August 2022, 8:28
Ahm, yeah. No. Sure, practice is not that much fun to watch. But since this is a SPORT there needs to be some practice/training. You can’t do all of it in a simulator.
Maybe this shows they aren’t getting the boatload of “sprint weekends” they hoped for and are now trying it this way? So maybe it’s halfway a win?
But what on earth would you want to give points for in training sessions? Most spectacular offs? The amount of laps done? Fastest laps done (but don’t we already do that in qualifying TRAINING)? Topping the amount of new bits tried on a car? Or the reverse – most laps done changing just setup, or nothing at all?
I guess it’s a lack of fantasy on my part, they are certainly capable of coming up with something. If we look at how great their ideas for the sprint were (not really) I am unconvinced they can come up with fun things as well
Ajayrious (@ajayrious)
25th August 2022, 10:39
The less practice there is, the more the order stays the same through the weekend. Ever since 2003 when we lost the Sunday morning warm up, the chance for a team to suddenly gain pace between qualifying and the race has disapeared. And thats only increased as set up changes have been more and more restrictive.
I’d be fine with Dominicali’s proposal if they could change the cars between races. That might make the racing more interesting.
superman
25th August 2022, 11:07
This is what happens when greed and popularity means more to those that run a sport.
It’s amazing that fans of football, tennis, baseball, American football, cricket, golf, athletics and most other sports are all quite happy to sit and watch for multiple hours (many more than an F1 race or session) but for some reason it’s now suddenly deemed a problem for us F1 fans. There would be an outcry if major changes were brought in to those other sports, why is F1 expected to put up with this nonsense?
Ironic considering we are probably the most patient and loyal fans of any of those sports. I mean who else would spend years watching one or two competitors dominate with little chance for others to have even the slightest chance to win….
Practice, Qualifying, Race. These sessions should always be at the core of F1. It can’t suddenly be everything to everyone and suit multiple attention spans. There are plenty of other series and sports already in existence to cater for everyone.
S
25th August 2022, 11:36
None of those others fundamentally require such changes year-on-year. They are all strictly human activities, where motorsport (F1 in particular) involves constantly evolving machinery and regulatory considerations that need to adapt with them.
The question is why would you want to? It’s completely unnecessary.
1 or 2 cars aren’t dominant because of the drivers’ sporting input, but because they are fundamentally ‘better’ machines for the task. While designing and building F1 cars is most definitely a competition, it isn’t the sport.
And they would remain so. Nobody has indicated otherwise.
Care to name some?
F1 isn’t trying to be that either – what they are doing is chasing a different audience than they used to.
And why wouldn’t they? The one they had before is resistant to change, and is getting older and less plentiful. And given that F1 used to be marketed directly to wealthy middle-aged men, I think moving with the times is exactly what they needed to do, lest they be left without an audience at all.
Now you only need to be wealthy….
davidhunter13 (@davidhunter13)
25th August 2022, 12:25
I do tend to get more excited when we see weekends with heavily disrupted practice due to weather knowing that there’s more variables and unknowns going into the race. So I do understand this.
However if we’re going to limit practice this much can you please allow drivers, especially rookies, some actual proper practice sessions throughout the year outside of race weekends. It’s bad enough as it is they have so little running, now you want them in a competitive session with barely any understanding of their own cars. For one that’s dangerous, and secondly it’s just plain unfair on the guys.
SadF1fan
25th August 2022, 14:19
Show brings in more viewers and therefore more sponsorship money than Practice.
So you either allow teams to test outside of race weekends or you can just state you actually want “Wacky Races”, where randomness is the end goal.
But hey let’s pretend it is a sport and all about feats of excellence to maintain a facade.
Simon
25th August 2022, 15:12
Remember always, Imola 2020 set the precedent for this…
Alec Glen (@alec-glen)
25th August 2022, 15:33
At first glance what Stefano is saying is bonkers. Looking beyond that and into his actual job and the challenge they’ve got to build the sport, it does make sense.
F1’s goal is to build it’s value and the value of it’s key stakeholders (teams and drivers). The model in this regard is the NFL, the sporting king when it comes to printing money and creating shareholder value, and they’ve a LONG way to go. What F1 needs is more content, more product to sell whilst slowly improving the quality of that product.
What Stefano is saying is that F1 has limited time on track and that they need to be able to sell more of it, to tv networks, to local promoters and to fans in the grandstands and behind screens. Big time execs will be telling him that practice sessions should be a goldmine of new income streams, new types of content like the sprint races which they can sell to different networks and different types of fans whilst providing promoters and teams added value.
Down the line don’t be surprised if they want to sell young drivers events/sessions as something a bit more racey too, it won’t rival the NFL Draft or the Combine for TV audience but it’s another lever that F1 will want to pull on to grow the business. DTS and Sprint Races are just the start.
Alesici
25th August 2022, 23:40
How many championship points should be awarded for the space hopper practice session? More or less than the driver’s press conference?
Pat Pepper
26th August 2022, 9:28
“At the end of the day, in sport, you need to fight for something”.
Yes, Stefano, at the end of the day. At the end of the day.
Try and think a little more about what you’re actually saying, Stefano.