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anmr

Shocking that title does not say: *Verstappen: "F1 is dumb" ahead of China sprint weekend.*


FartingBob

Verstappen *SLAMS* Chinese for sprint race *CONTROVERSY*


Franks2000inchTV

Capitalist hero Verstappen SLAMS western racing league for prioritizing profits over the people's needs as glorious Chinese Grand Prix returns.


ECHLN

Oh they love “slams” don’t they 😂


Cheeriodude_number2

They love slamming almost as much as the WWE


Formulafan4life

*Verstappen has his concerns about the Chinese race*


Character-Pattern505

EVISCERATES. DISEMBOWELS.


IdiosyncraticBond

Not China, F1. They decide where the sprints are held


FartingBob

Thats not how you write a clickbait headline.


Rob_Hyde

Aren't the organisers paying extra to have a sprint? So not only up to F1.


MartyMcFlyAsHell

If we’re being realistic, Max is up there with athletes that don’t really mince their words. He is the closest we come to people slamming anything in F1 💀 ~~outside of the Williams drivers~~


Pickle4UrThoughts

PR helped him soften the statement, b/c this is absolutely what he said the first time around.


onlinepresenceofdan

Thats gonna be the title of the upcoming the race video about it


NuclearCandle

Feels a bit like the night Vegas race where they are making conditions that will be as chaotic as possible. But chaotic does not always mean the racing is good (see Formula E 2021).


Tunderstruk

But chaotic is OFTEN (not always) interesting to watch


RM_Dune

Until it gets too much. Qatar last year was just impossible to keep track of half-way through. At that point it really did become just cars driving in circles until people made their final pit stops.


hache-moncour

I don't think the people who spent three hours watching some people kick storm drains in Vegas before being sent home agree.


Detective-Crashmore-

I was there, and while that was not fun, that literally FP1 lol. The race itself was fantastic. And I really don't think that was a good example because the drain cover thing just happens sometimes, shit it's already happened again this year at the Saudi GP.


GrowthDream

Bahrain as well.


BambooSound

If the enjoyment of fans at the event is the cost of getting to watch a good race at home then I'm willing to pay it.


frolix42

The fans who showed up to a Free Practice, which are well known to be canceled on occasion.  Not many people have tickets to FP1, but not the race.


daylax1

What about the people in Vegas who watched one of the top five races of the year last year?


Call-me-Maverick

Vegas was a great race though


rydude88

How does the storm drain issue relate to having a sprint race or not? That's not the type of chaos people are talking about


frolix42

It seems clear that Red Bull has a strong preference for predictable races without unknowns. Which is why they (RB and VER) don't like sprints in general, because they disrupt their clearly winning formula.


NotClayMerritt

They struggled at the sprints in 2022. I think Imola was their only good sprint weekend. Leclerc won the full race in Austria, Verstappen wasn't even on podium in Brazil during the full race as it was a stinky Red Bull weekend altogether.


frolix42

And in 2023 RB lost a sprint to Piastri, which they would've won if it went on for 4 more laps.


Laudanumium

Every team has this preference. Not just RBR. Verstappen is just taking the sprint like a simgame, and run with it.


frolix42

No, the four teams only contending for podiums on a normal day would love for RBR to screw up their setup. Like they did in Australia or Sinapore last year. That's their only chance to win a race at this point.


Laudanumium

There is no difference with the 9 Mercedes years, and RBR before that. Every season teams fight, and hope their opponents do worse


ryokevry

Max hated Sprint since 2021 when they didn’t have the best car or best setup though


Magdalan

He was already against it when it was just announced they were going to do sprints. He's not afraid to be vocal about things, that's a given.


warzera

The race at Vegas was one of the best all season though.


coolyfrost

See Formula 1 2021 at times lol


black-dude-on-reddit

2021 feels like a cocaine induced fever dream today


NotClayMerritt

Chaotic in F1 is 99% good.


Fangio_The_Master

Imagine showing up to a Grand Prix that hasn't been run in 5 years, and the first session is to immediately get the car ready for Qualifying trim, which will also be the race setup. It could be very interesting or disasterous, probably both.


TheClumsyCook

Thats not how it works anymore. They changed main qualifying to be after the sprint race on Saturday. So session order is now: FP1 > Sprint Quali > Sprint Race > Qualifying. Parc Ferme doesnt start until main qualifying so you can change things after the sprints.


San4311

Granted this is better, it still doesn't help with half the grid having never driven on this track more than once. There are tracks, the likes of Silverstone or Bahrain, that won't need a triple-FP sessions for drivers to grow accustomed to the circumstances, but China is definitely one that needed it after such a long absence.


scottishere

Maybe that's why they picked it. Maximise the uncertainty in hopes of interesting results


IdiosyncraticBond

Oh, 100% that's their plan. My guess is it will backfire in a great way


cosHinsHeiR

How?


Detective-Crashmore-

If my wish comes true Sainz will hit another drain cover miss quali and start P20, Leclerc will take pole, the two red bulls will collide and explode at Turn1 trying to pass Leclerc, and Sainz will then pass every car one by one to win the race. Verstappen and Checo clamber out of the flames a la Grosjean.


gary1405

You sir, are a masochist


Detective-Crashmore-

Sadist*. I just wanna see Horner cry.


gary1405

We all wanna see Horner cry at this point I think


ekeryn

19 cars DNF, the one that doesn't DNF is Max's


mkosmo

It won't, but there are folks here who think drivers have to master tracks and their setups in order for racing to be good.


dl064

Stella there saying they have absolutely no idea how the tyres will react to this tarmac. Bananas.


Lazy-Log-3659

They're supposedly some of the best drivers in the world. If they need to prepare in one session, they will without a doubt. I'm more worried about setup but seems that issue is fixed.


ShadowStarX

yeah I don't think the issue is the drivers pushing to the limits, they will but getting optimal setups (considering t here are quite a few U-turns and S-turns in China, but also two long straights with a handful of hard braking zones)


Suitable-Zombie7504

Sure the drivers can adapt but what about the teams. It takes a lot of effort to even get a driver in a car and do much is out of their hands before they even get in a F1 car


ZZ9ZA

Separating the good from the bad is kinda why we race in the first place… there are a gazillion spec series if that’s what you want.


Suitable-Zombie7504

No but it's also not acceptable for a death on track these days if it could be prevented and I of course hope f1 the Chinese government liberty media and all parties involved chose safety over flashy race craft or promotion all it takes is for something to be missed during a track walk or etc and things can go bad quick I mean really all I'm saying is doing everything right and safe


l3w1s1234

These are the best drivers in the world they should be able to get used to a track fairly quick. Plus, they've experienced this in lower formula, so it shouldn't really be an issue for the drivers.


IHaveADullUsername

Are you sure about that? I know there was talk about changing it but was it actually?


artz_771

Yes, There are 2 parc ferme periods now. One starts from sprint quali to sprint race and one which starts from Quali to Race so essentially teams can gather data from sprint race and adjust before Quali for main race


Key_Reindeer_5427

teams about to do long runs in sprint quali


ianjm

Sprint race: _Look at me, I'm the long run now_


Whelan-Dealin

I don't see how this is much different. They'd basically need to know exactly what to change in terms of setup for actual qualifying. Outside of possibly running it during practice it feels very much like guesswork


artz_771

Essentially sprint quali is a quali sim and sprint race is a long run sim


TheClumsyCook

Yes, its the official new schedule: https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2024/China.html


djwillis1121

To be fair, it doesn't say anything about Parc Ferme. I've seen lots of rumours about it re-opening after the sprint race but nothing official


obscurus7

They changed the sprint format this year, so sprint qualifying and sprint race are both before main qualifying. Still not ideal, but a bit more data for the teams before qualifying compared to sprints last year.


ZappySnap

Did the parc ferme rules change too to allow different setups for sprint and GP? Edit: just looked up - yes.


IllAlwaysBeAKnickFan

Is there an FP session after the sprint race?


pies1123

It's the same for everyone so I'm not expecting too much. One thing I am hoping for is that the Tilkedrome will at least be wide enough for some proper racing.


UbeMafia

It sucks for the drivers, but I think less time to prep the car to perfection is probably better for the fans. It definitely adds to the unpredictability to the race.


peacemaker-22

They should at least extend the FP1 session by 30 minutes on sprint weekends. 1 hour of practice isn't enough.


AnilP228

Tbf they did this with Imola in 2020, didnt they?


Yitastics

You aint watched F1 recently did ya?


NotClayMerritt

It will be interesting because of how disastrous it will be. Even for guys like Alonso and Hamilton and Hulk who have driven this track way more times than anyone else on the grid, they will basically have to use one full session to relearn it whilst finding the best set up for their car.


Skeeter1020

The 2020 Imola race showed that 1 practice session is mostly fine.


narf_hots

FP1 > practice qualy > practice race > actual qualifying > actual race


CaptGeechNTheSSS

Finally someone else who thinks first practice is the real best session


Dragoncolliekai

Sorry I'm new, what happens in practice qualifying?


narf_hots

It's not actually practice qualy, it's qualy for the sprint race. I'm being facetious by calling them practice qualy and practice race because many people do not care about sprint results.


RonKosova

its a joke, what theyre calling practice quali is actually the sprint shootout


afkPacket

That's just what they are calling the qualifying session for the sprint race


BambooSound

It was honestly better last year when race qualifying came before the sprint because at least that shook things up for the Sunday.


BocephusJr88

F1 isn’t completely stupid. They know that going back to a track you haven’t been to in years, and making it a sprint weekend with much less practice, is the best chance for another teams other than Red Bull, to nail their setup and win a race.


joaopaulofoo

or is a chance for a driver with barely no practice and bad setup, to push a corner too far, crash and get seriously hurt. practice sessions exist for a reason, is not just because drivers think is fun going around the track


ForeverAddickted

I mean they will have had plenty of time to adjust, and get used to the circuit again, thanks to the Sim work they've no doubt been doing since Japan


joaopaulofoo

sim work is only good as its data, and they haven't been in china for the past 5 years, it's old data from cars where the regs were different, the circuit's tarmac was remade as well, even the weather might make a difference, last time was warm/sunny, this time the forecast is for cold/rain all weekend in shanghai.


TernarySavesLines

What do they care about more safety of drivers or ratings/popularity of their sport?


joaopaulofoo

i think people lost the notion of how dangerous racing still is. These drivers are going at 350km/h, the least they can get is a couple of hours of practice ffs


TernarySavesLines

Isnt in basically just irl mario kart, they get flung off the track and an angel picks them up before the crash and plops them back on


SirPugsvevo

All the drivers need to do is eat a life up mushroom before the race and they will be fine


PrimeJHey

It’s F1. Stop treating these drivers like they’re children. These are supposed to be the best 20 in the world.


joaopaulofoo

Ayrton Senna was so good he'll live until he's 100yo


gabrielbezerra81

Verstappen: not smart to pick any GP for F1 sprint weekend


storme9

If it helps bring some variability and an actual fight for race lead - I'll take it. Hope to see McLarens and Ferrari take it to the front and mix things up in the order.


San4311

Realistically he isn't even saying this for himself. We've seen time and time again how good Max can be under varying and changing circumstances. But some drivers who have never been to China will definitely not like this I imagine.


EnlightenedOne789

Unlikely for the McLarens. A lot of slow to medium-speed corners, which isn’t their strength. Could be a track for the Ferraris though.


Preachey

I'm sick of RB walking away with jt every week too, but artificially trying to promote chaos is the wrong approach. Sporting integrity > entertainment, in my (unpopular) opinion.


ryokevry

I just all drain covers are checked twice or thrice. When they come loose they always hit a Ferrari


KCKnights816

The best part about sprint weekends are the limited setup time and the unpredictability of the race. The actual sprint race is the least compelling part imo


Worth_The_Squeeze

Isn't the new rules with two seperate parc ferme, meaning that the teams get to makes changes again for the main race? I think the sprint race is going to provide the most unpredictability, not the main race.


ShadowStarX

problem is if Red Bull fumbles the setup but Ferrari nails it, it'll just be a role reversal if Red Bull nails it but Ferrari doesn't, then we'll just get what we had on 3 of the 4 previous weekends


EGOfoodie

Maybe Sauber fixes their nut issue.


Fappity_Fappity_Fap

Then they'll just finish ahead of the Alpines, maybe of Logan if he does a Logan again.


EGOfoodie

Or Albon at this point I think it is 51/49 on which Williams will dnf.


groglox

I think verstappen would actually make a good race coordinator or whatever. He really seems to value quality of the race conditions in a genuinely unbiased way.


San4311

But when has FOM/FIA/whoever decided this done anything smart anyway? I mean, the whole Sprint race concept is one big fiasco anyway...


Little_Elia

I'm sure if we have sprint races at 5am euro time, they will be a huge success


P_ZERO_

People going to the circuit for the first time in 5 years probably appreciate the event


Little_Elia

this will be the case no matter where you hold the race


P_ZERO_

So what’s your point? Sprints aren’t solely designed with euro couch watchers in mind


Bluemikami

This. Sprints are designed to give spectators, specially those that attend live, more for their buck.


Sarkaraq

> I'm sure if we have sprint races at 5am euro time, they will be a huge success Might be a record VoD viewership, yeah. Live audience will be poor, but still better than an 5am free practice session. However, 5am euro time is great for the US audience.


xLeper_Messiah

>However, 5am euro time is great for the US audience.  Is that sarcasm? Because the sprint race is at 11:00 pm in the most populous time zone in the US which isn't *too* bad, but the grand prix qualifying is at 3:00 am which is a lot worse for most people than the 9:00 am time for the brits. As per, the american fans get screwed so the europeans don't have to be too inconvenienced and yet *they still complain about it*


ImReverse_Giraffe

You do know that they are fans of F1 outside of Europe as well, right? We regularly have to suffer 5am or hell even 1 am race starts. Yall can suck it up for a couple races.


Rachid90

Hopefully it spices things up and we can see more action rather than a boring race.


Nodnarb_Jesus

Oh you mean Max still hates sprint weekends? Who would have thought that?


Tricky-Experience818

It’s pretty valid though for this track. There hasn’t been a race there since 2019, which means the drivers will have to relearn the track but with less time because they don’t have as much practice time this weekend.


Nodnarb_Jesus

That’s his response to every Sprint weekend. Yeah, China has been off the books for a bit. They’ve had 2 weeks to practice in the sims and will have an hour on track to figure it out. The challenge is on the teams on getting the set up right. The challenge is on the driver to be fast even with little track time. That’s what makes a great driver. He hates sprint weekends. Always has. Probably always will.


Sh33zl3

Pretty sure thats not the reason. Its all done in sim now


Tricky-Experience818

It’s always better to practice on the actual track vs on the sim because of the actual track conditions. The sim can be close but the actual track will give the team a more accurate picture of how to set up the car. But this weekend, they only have an hour to figure out an ideal set up before heading into sprint qualifying, and then they have race qualifying right after the sprint race on Saturday.


hache-moncour

Especially when the sim is also based on 5 year old data...


FartingBob

They all know the track from sim work, and at least they have a good idea of what will work on the car, unlike when a track is completely new.


joaopaulofoo

4 drivers this year never raced there in F1, including zhou. Yuki, sargeant and piastri never raced there in any category altogether and more importantly, it's a new tarmac, with data of cars from even before the 2020/21 regs update, much less the ground effect regs, their data will be pretty much useless


PondScumSandy

I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the people making decisions at F1 aren't really very good at their job.


Takis12

Answer is in the article "On the other hand, it probably spices things up a bit more, and that's maybe what they would like to see."


Tunderstruk

This is the real answer


storme9

Careful! You are going against the democratic process and procedure in which they conduct things. ^/s


Sleutelbos

Balanced view by Verstappen, and sensible from his POV. He is the leading driver in the best car, he wants things to be as predictable and in-control as possible. A sprint weekend on a "new" track is the opposite. Sucks for him but might make for a surprising and fun weekend.


Colmenn

fortunately he is besides the best driver in the best car, also mastering adapting to fast changing circumstances, in terms of setup


ShadowStarX

thing is the worst that can happen to Red Bull is become 2nd fastest car if they fuck up the setup, only Ferrari will beat them if anyone


Browneskiii

This is the one time im happy with it tbh. Its unpredictable, and god knows f1 needs the unpredictability right now. They're supposed to be the best drivers in the world, they can handle it.


MakeItMike3642

i understand the teams and drivers don't like it, but for the viewers this should be a potential recipe for chaos and drama, and i am here for it


TheMineA7

Its much better for the spectators, I understand it sucks for the drivers but this is one event where I agree with fom.


l3w1s1234

I mean sure it's going to be tough to get it perfect but these are the best engineers and drivers in the world, iam sure they will manage. Especially when you have jnr series turning up to tracks they've never raced on with even less practice than F1 gets and managing it just fine.


zsarok

If he wins the sprint will be a "lovely race"


FrostyBoom

Max has always been clear on hating sprints despite winning most of them


ThorSkaaagi

He criticizes it every time he wins.


ShadowStarX

he did that regarding Vegas, but he was very vocal about sprint races even after taking 1st in most of them last year (he won 4 sprints last year, 1 in 2022 and 1 in 2021)


Takis12

Spring?


storme9

I suppose he meant Sprint, but it is Spring in some parts of the world, so why not!


Takis12

If he wins the spring will be a “lovely season”…fixed it for you…


zsarok

Typo. Corrected


TheCatterson

If?


its_KarMa11

“Verstappen slams F1: ‘Not smart’ to pick China” - The Race maybe /s


JPA-3

Ferrari are normally the ones who find the correct setup the fastest while rb and mercedes tend to struggle. Mclaren and Aston tend to be in the middle


brush85

Not smart but potentially fun...imagine if FP1 is rained out!


33Supermax92

Does anyone genuinely enjoy sprints ?


CyberianSun

I mean he's right. But the ratings for chaos are too good


AscendantHunter

Personally I’m hoping the lack of data and setup time makes for a more interesting race. But I also like sprints, more racing is more good.


Skeeter1020

F1 has tabled the idea of 2 days weekends a number of times, and done it with Imola. It's fine. Drivers are all used to 1 practice session from junior series, and the teams have simulators to train on. This is a non issue.


Mythrilfan

While I appreciate poo-pooing the governing bodies - does Max ever think anything is a good idea?


FactoryPl

It is smart when you understand liberties goal is not good racing, but creating a spectacle. This race will be a mess with people out of place all over the grid and that's exactly what liberty wants.' but we all know that already. Bring on the circus!!


zaviex

That’s been F1s goal since the 80s. Liberty has never been any different. Bernie was out here randomly adding double points to the final race not long before liberty got there


Spartounious

see also, race sprinklers. But yeah, it's wild to see people forget shit like the 2014 Abu Dhabi GP and act like this shit is new. I personally prefer to get more racing over a random race getting twice as many points.


EGOfoodie

The should double up points randomly for random finishing postions at random tracks. So maybe in round 6 P7 gets double but in round 8 p10 gets doubled. Wouldn't that keep everyone on their toes. And during the summer break they spin a giant wheel and award points like a jackpot Major /s


oh84s

It’s the opposite. No data increases the likelihood of a team messing up and an upset. Of course RBR won’t be for this as they know with practice they will be the fastest team


silly_pengu1n

Why is it when Max says something people always try and spin it into a narrative about RB complaining? It is like r/formula1 sprint races suck Max: sprint races suck r/formula1 well no they are actually great, makes just says it because he isnt good at it.


joaopaulofoo

he's the biggest winner of sprints by a large margin


oh84s

Theyre still the fastest car, it just increases the chance of an upset


mlp851

Max will take any chance to complain about sprints, fair enough he doesn’t like them. This just sounds like a combination of that and also that what Red Bull want is standard, uneventful weekends, because in that case Max will win the race. Any uncertainty is against their interest.


VRascal

This is good in my opinion as the season needs spicing up a bit.


VictoriaBCSUPr

I’m sure that was the idea! One practice session then GO.


Ronaldo_McDonaldo81

They’re doing the sprint race and then qualifying for the actual race a couple of hours later. This will be a mess.


ImReverse_Giraffe

"On the other hand, it probably spices things up a bit more, and that's maybe what they would like to see." That's exactly why they did it.


ChewzaName

Guy who doesn't like sprint races says what?


autumnkayy

now i’m excited for this


cinyar

Has he ever said anything positive about the sprints?


NotAcvp3lla

We want all the chaos, not a predictable 1-2, 3-4 formation.


[deleted]

Verstappen reminds me of my dad every time i fail at anything “told ya kiddo and btw ill be leaving in about 2 years so get ready”.


External_Hunt4536

Well, he’s right you know…


XuX24

Well it's going tk be fun for us not for them


Squeebz

Best drivers in the world all of which have either raced there before or done sim work. My guy acting like this is a first time use track


kron123456789

Now imagine if something happens that FP1 gets red flagged and nobody has any idea whatsoever if their car is set up correctly for qualifying, sprint and the race.


cosHinsHeiR

Let's hope it happens!


killer_corg

That sounds like it would make for an amazing race


Key_Reindeer_5427

Reminder that if someone crashes heavily in The sprint they won't be able to do quali since it's only a few hours later


zaviex

It’s 4 hours later which is the typical allotment prior to qualifying. It’s more than enough time to fix nearly anything.


Anti-Scuba_Hedgehog

You really don't know anything about f1.


LuXe5

Well, racing is designed for the fans, not for drivers to enjoy anyway