Max Verstappen has dominated Formula 1 since 2021 with all the championships and in 2024 he is on track for the Tetra championship. Since the year of his first title in the ‘Grand Circus’ the Sprint races were established, which is a shorter race that distributes 36 points, eight for the winner.
From 2021 to 2024 there have been 13 Sprints, according to information from StatsF1, and they have also been dominated by Verstappen with eight wins, meaning he took 61.5 of the races so far.
Despite his hegemony, the current three-time F1 champion has criticized this new format several times, most recently in China, as the circuit returned to the calendar after five years and the Dutchman considered it safer for drivers not to be included in Shanghai.
F1 wants more Sprint races
Formula 1 has seen an improvement in audience numbers on Fridays when running a Sprint Qualifying than when there are two practices, so it wants to implement this format more times on its calendar, reports Sky Sports F1.
Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1, highlights the competition’s need to give attendees fun on the first day of the weekend.
“On Friday, in the Qualifying Sprint (in China), we had amazing conditions and a lot of running, which is a reminder that we must make sure that every day there is some action on the track, to respect the fans who come here. because we want to have fun.
I’m sure the teams will understand that, so we need to find some solutions
Stefano Domenicali, F1 CEO
“I would say they are great because they keep the tension every day. This is something we will discuss in the future. Let’s see how this format goes this year… what I want to discuss in the next F1 Commission is to avoid the possibility, like we had in Japan, where the cars didn’t run. That was not good because people are coming to visit us and the drivers,” Domenicali said.
Sprint winners in F1 from 2021 to 2024
- Max Verstappen 8
- Valtteri Bottas 2
- Sergio Perez 1
- George Russell 1
- Oscar Piastri 1