Jordan comes up with very striking suggestion for the future of sprints
General
- GPblog.com
Eddie Jordan believes sprint races take the excitement away from Sundays. He comes up with a striking suggestion for Formula 1, giving young drivers a chance during Grand Prix weekends.
"I think sprint racing is a failure, it's shambolic, it shouldn't be in the weekend for the Grand Prix. It's distracting, it's taking it away from what we really there to do to see which is to see who wins the Grand Prix," Jordan is adamant in the podcast Formula for Success.
Sprint races for the juniors
Still, the former driver does not want to say goodbye to sprint races altogether. "I would propose having four Grands Prix, which are four of the races that are key in our calendar. You might have to leave Monaco out, because Monaco is a really tricky place for a young driver to go to, but say you talk about Spa, Silverstone, Monza, and then the choice of somewhere else, let's put it in Monaco."
Why does Jordan mention young drivers here? He sees sprint racing as the perfect format for talented drivers to be introduced to Formula 1. There are only 20 spots to be given away in the top class of motorsport, and so a lot of talent falls by the wayside. Jordan would like to see more drivers get the chance to at least get a taste of driving at the highest level. Sprint racing, in his view, could mean something in that.
"It doesn't need extra parts. I would like to propose a sprint race, which can be shorter, because really all you want to do is see the start of the race and see how people qualify. So you give them a chance to get the feel, soak up the atmosphere of the Saturday. We have a sprint race at four events a year, and no driver can enter that race if they've competed in over 10 Grands Prix. So it gives some of those guys who are unlucky that got squeezed out. Some of the guys who are on the way up. It gives them a chance."
"You can make it, they have to do five Grand Prix, 10 Grand Prix, it doesn't matter what that figure is. But I'm just saying you can't have it open-ended and anyone who's a bit of a star and is just on the cusp and looking for a drive, come there. It has to be for the young. Putting an age bracket is definitely unfair, and I'm not sure it would get through compliance or something like that with the competition law. But anyway, that's my proposal."