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McLaren gives F1 food for thought: Are sprint races here to stay or not?
- Ludo van Denderen
A few hundred metres before the chequered flag, Lando Norris lifted his foot off the gas pedal. Teammate Oscar Piastri, driving right behind him, understood the message and was allowed to take victory in the Sprint in Qatar. A small gesture, but it gave the FIA and Formula 1 something to think about. Apparently, drivers consider winning a Sprint to be so insignificant that handing it over is no big deal.
A Formula 1 driver wants to win. Always. Or at least, nearly every time. Lando Norris did not need the Sprint victory in Qatar, his McLaren teammate could have it - in return for relinquishing the sprint victory in Brazil earlier this season. At the time, it was understandable that Piastri and Norris swapped positions, as the latter was still in the championship battle against Max Verstappen. Any point could make the difference.
In Qatar, personal success was not at stake, earning points was important for the constructors' championship. Whether it was Norris or Piastri, it did not matter. The only important thing for McLaren was to see a papaya car crossing the line first. Yet the message Norris sent to the outside world with letting Piastri past was: 'Here, you can have it. I don't really care'. Later, the Briton also said on camera: "I don't think any of us are proud of necessarily winning a sprint race, or we're also not too unhappy on giving up a sprint race win." Ten years from now, who will remember how many Sprints did Norris win? After all, he wants to win Grands Prix, win championships. No doubt he would never have awarded a GP victory to Piastri just because he thinks so.
Red Bull saw sprint race as test run
At Red Bull Racing, too, it could be seen that the actual result of the Sprint was not important. For example, the team decided to let Sergio Perez start from the pit lane after a setup change to his RB20 and then bring him in later for another change. The reason? Red Bull wanted to test some things before the much more important qualifying and Grand Prix.
For the FIA and F1, it must be painful to see how the teams approach the event. There are Sprints at various events to make the weekend more interesting for the fans and drivers. By no means all F1 fans are happy about it, Max Verstappen is clearly against Sprints, and teams - given what happened in Qatar - do not see these mini-races as a priority either.
Of course, it's good that Formula 1 is looking for ways to make the sport more attractive, which means more fans watch and thus more sponsors are interested. But the current form of sprint racing does not seem to be the correct approach, that conclusion can be drawn after a few years. Changes are needed, so these Sprints do not turn into a glorified practice session.
There is plenty for the FIA and Formula 1 to think about.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
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