F1 world champion Damon Hill thinks increasing emphasis on sprint races in Formula 1 could push Max Verstappen into an early retirement.
Verstappen is on the record as being against expanding the F1 weekend to include sprint races, and the reigning world champion doubled down on his position in response to news that the sport is set to add an extra qualifying session into the format from the next round in Azerbaijan.
“I hope there won’t be too many changes, otherwise I won’t be around for too long,” Verstappen told Portuguese TV in Australia before expanding his thoughts in a later press conference.
“I’m not a fan of it at all. I think when we’re going to do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes even more intense, and we’re already doing so many races, so I think that is not the right way to go at it.
“We’re heading into seasons where you have at one point 24, 25 races, because that’s where we’re going to head into. If we then start adding even more stuff, it’s not worth it for me anyway. I’m not enjoying that.”
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The 25-year-old has previously hinted that he doesn’t intend to stick around in F1 deep into his 30s and that the expiry of his Red Bull Racing contract after his 31st birthday could be a step-off point. He’s also described his first championship as having satisfied his career ambition, with subsequent wins and titles coming as a bonus.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, 1996 champion Hill said Verstappen’s quit threat should be taken seriously.
“Max’s retirement threat is very unusual,” he said. “This is kind of strange to hear, isn’t it?
“I think [fun] is a very important point. Is he having fun? Because I sometimes think he’s not having fun.
“I think you have to love what you’re doing, otherwise it’s a grind.”
As well as criticising the weight of the modern F1 schedule, Verstappen also proposed that sprint racing was against the DNA of the sport, which traditionally places all the emphasis — and awards all the points — on the 305-kilometre grand prix on Sunday.
Hill said he understood the perspective given sprint racing is yet to establish a meaningful place for itself in the sport’s history.
“I think there’s an element of this with Max with him wanting not to waste his time on superfluous things that really are just invented for novelty reasons,” Hill said. “I think he’s that kind of person.
“So I can imagine him just saying it because he just thinks, ‘Well, I’ve just come here and want to win grands prix. I just want one race to mean something. I don’t want to win a half-value race. What’s the point of that on your CV?’.
“People aren’t going to go, ‘How many grands prix have you won? How many sprints have you won?’.”
SEVEN SENT SPINNING FROM RESTART | 01:16
Sprint racing was introduced in 2021 as a trial to enliven the weekend format by replacing one of the three hours of practice with a 30-minute half-points race.
The current sprint rules have qualifying set the grid for the sprint, with the result of the sprint then setting the grid for the grand prix.
However, the sport is attempting to push through a rule change for the next race in Azerbaijan to make the sprint a stand-alone event with its own qualifying session on Saturday. Friday qualifying would set the grid for the grand prix on Sunday.
But Verstappen said the changes wouldn’t alter his view on the format.
“For me, a sprint race is all about surviving, it’s not about racing,” he said. “For me, when you have a quick car, there’s nothing to risk. I prefer to just keep my car alive and make sure that you have a good race car for Sunday.
“And even if you change the format, I don’t find it’s the DNA of Formula 1 to do these kinds of sprint races.
“F1 is about getting the most out of it in qualifying and then having an amazing Sunday, good long race distances. That’s the DNA of the sport, and I don’t understand or I don’t know why we should change that, because I think the action has been good.”
Australian Grand Prix – Race Highlights | 07:03
F1 hopes making the sprint a discrete event will encourage drivers to race harder and improve the spectacle. But Verstappen instead thinks the sport would be better off minimising the time F1 cars aren’t on track by reducing the three-day weekend down to just two days as well as improving the cars.
“I understand of course they want to have basically every day exciting, but then I think maybe it’s better to just reduce the weekend, only race on Saturday and Sunday and make those two days exciting,” he said.
“And how you get even more action is about getting the cars closer, getting more teams able to fight for the win, and I think naturally the show will be great.
“If we have six, seven teams already fighting for a win, that will be insane. Then you really don’t need to change anything.”
