For Max Verstappen, choosing China as a sprint weekend “isn’t the smartest thing”

Formula 1 has not set foot in Shanghai since 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis erupted, resulting in the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix for five years.

Formula 1 is now returning to the demanding Shanghai International Circuit, with teams facing several unknowns regarding the performance of this generation of single-seaters. Moreover, the circuit has since been redone, meaning that very few existing data are valid on the 5.4 km track on the outskirts of the Chinese metropolis, making the weekend more challenging to prepare for.

To add to the teams’ headache, China has been selected as the first of the six sprint race layouts this year, granting drivers only one 60-minute practice session to find the ideal setup. Asked by Autosport about the decision to organize a sprint in Shanghai upon its return to the calendar, Verstappen sarcastically replied that: “Yes, it’s very smart to do that.”

« It’s not great to do this because when you are far from a track for a while, I think we never know what we will experience, so it would have been better to have a normal race weekend there. »

On the other hand, this probably spices things up a bit more, and maybe that’s what they would like to see. But from the point of view of driving and the performance of the sport, I don’t think it’s the smartest thing to do. We’ll see how it goes.

The Dutch driver enjoys this track: « I have always loved driving there, so I hope we can start as well as possible, and I hope we won’t need to fine-tune too many things on the car.

The sprints will follow a revised format this year, with free practice and sprint qualifying taking place on Friday, and the sprint race on Saturday. The shortened race format will precede the qualifying for the Grand Prix, which will take place in its usual slot on Saturday, followed by the full Grand Prix on Sunday.

An opinion shared by Carlos Sainz

This adjustment means that the Closed Park will reopen after the sprint race for Saturday’s qualifications, addressing complaints that the original format was too restrictive. But the restriction of a single practice session remains, which, according to Carlos Sainz, goes a bit too far in the case of China.

China is a fantastic racetrack, I think it’s one of our favorites for everyone.

« It’s just a great racetrack and a track that offers good overtaking opportunities, so a sprint makes sense. At the same time, that’s what we said during the drivers’ briefing with the FIA and Formula 1.

« With this kind of cars, going on a track with one hour of testing and directly into qualifications, with the regulations they impose on us, with the wear of the planks and things like that and how a delicate bump could affect the car, I don’t think it’s a good choice to add the sprint [there] after four or five years of absence, the Spanish driver continues.

We also heard that resurfacing work was underway. Maybe for you guys at home, it’s exciting, but for engineers and pilots, in my opinion, we shouldn’t take any risks and have a normal weekend.