Williams boss James Vowles has urged Formulation 1 to undertake a two-day grand prix weekend which might subsequently end in extra venues being added to the 24-round calendar.
The format of a race weekend has been a sizzling subject just lately after F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali underlined the necessity for the championship to maintain exploring a distinct construction.
Shortening a 300km grand prix was talked about, as was the thought of reverse grids, however maybe the principle subject of dialog was the variety of dash races every season.
There might be six dash contests within the 2026 marketing campaign, the identical as this 12 months, with Shanghai, Miami, Montreal, Silverstone, Zandvoort and Singapore all set to host a shortened Saturday race subsequent season.
Singapore was a shock inclusion given how exhausting it’s to overhaul across the slim road circuit in order that, plus what number of sprints there ought to be, was raised within the group principal press convention forward of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Vowels was within the session and as an alternative of tackling dash races, he reckons the larger subject is that there are three follow outings throughout an everyday grand prix weekend.
Carlos Sainz, Williams FW47
Picture by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Community
He mentioned: “I am not fearful about Singapore, I believe what we see on dash race weekends is the numbers go up, the audiences go up, so it’s usually a success.
“I am extra somebody that wish to debate whether or not we go to two-day weekends, Saturday, Sunday.
“I’d simply scale back the quantity of free follow and make it a spectacle however by doing that, and giving again 24 days to the groups, really you might do just a few extra race weekends should you wished.
“So, slightly different out there suggestion but I think six sprints for me is about the right number, I frankly don’t care where they are, it’s absolutely fine being here.”
F1 has actually trialled a two-day weekend just lately, because the sequence did it on the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix throughout the COVID-affected 2020 marketing campaign. That entailed a 90-minute follow session on the Saturday morning in Imola earlier than qualifying later that day and the grand prix on the Sunday.
Though the opposite group principals didn’t add to Vowles’ feedback within the session, they did supply their very own views on the dash calendar and Singapore, specifically, being on subsequent 12 months’s one.
Aston Martin’s Andy Cowell reckons the regulation overhaul that is because of debut subsequent 12 months might really make the Singapore dash an thrilling one.
“It will be interesting to see what the overtaking is like next year with the new regulations,” he mentioned. “So we might nicely see extra overtaking and so subsequently Singapore being chosen is not an issue, the followers love dash race weekends and all of us work for the followers.
Toto Wolff, Government Director of Mercedes AMG F1 Group James Vowles, Group Principal of Williams and Andy Cowell, Group Principal and Group CEO at Aston Martin F1 Group within the Group Principals Press Convention
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Formulation 1 by way of Getty Photographs
“I therefore support it and exactly the same as Steve, maybe you could do more but 24 might be a push too far.”
That ‘Steve’ he talked about was Steve Nielsen, who just lately joined Alpine after stints at Caterham, Toro Rosso, Williams and the FIA.
Nielsen has modified his opinion on dash races since seeing them in motion, a lot in order that he thinks there ought to be extra on the calendar.
“I think sprint races have been a good thing,” he mentioned. “Possibly I am a lone voice on the sofa right here, however I believe dash races have been factor and I say that as any individual who to start with was not that enthusiastic.
“I wish to see extra of them and I believe once we do races now, the place we now have three free follow periods, it appears very lengthy and I believe it might be good for the blokes within the grandstands to have, nicely guys and women moderately, to have extra stuff to take a look at.
“So I would be an advocate of having more sprint races and I’m happy there’s one in Singapore. I think there’s a happy sort of number, I’m not sure what it is, greater than six, less than 24 but yeah, it wouldn’t work everywhere but I think we can definitely do more than we do.”
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