Carlos Sainz has called for a change to be made to the Formula 1 sprint races, something he is more than happy to see continue in the sport.
Since their introduction in 2021, the sprint races have received a very mixed reception, with one driver in particular being completely against them.
From the moment the sprint race concept was discussed, reigning World Champion Max Verstappen has been massively against them, even though he’s gone onto win a few.
The Dutchman very much prefers the traditional weekend format, something F1 is seemingly trying to move away from to increase the sport’s entertainment.
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Sainz has now suggested a way the sport’s bosses could make sprint races even more exciting, with him calling for the sprint to be started with a reversed grid.
Effectively, the Ferrari driver wants the results from qualifying to be inverted, to create the grid for the sprint race.
The result of the sprint race then determines the grid for the main race on Sunday, something which would likely still feature a few surprises based on Sainz’s idea.
He insists that if the slower drivers started at the front, that they’d try their maximum to score points, whereas the faster drivers would need to work their way through the field to ensure that they have a good starting position for the main race.
Sainz thinks it’d be exciting to see Verstappen starting in last and fighting through the field, something the 29-year-old thinks would offer something “different” to the audience.
His argument is that the sprint races currently are too similar to the main race, whereas an inverted grid would throw this out of the window.
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“Personally I would continue with the sprint races, I would do them with an inverted starting grid,” Sainz told the P1 podcast.
“The group would become more compact and those who are usually in the rear would give everything to win a few points.
“Think of Verstappen starting from the last square. In addition, a different show would be offered to the audience, compared to now that the sprint is a preview of Sunday’s race.”