Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Silverstone, 2021

Rate the race: 2021 British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying

2021 British Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s Sprint Qualifying event? Share your verdict on the British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying race.

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Rate the Race: 2021 British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying

  • 10 (3%)
  • 9 (2%)
  • 8 (11%)
  • 7 (17%)
  • 6 (17%)
  • 5 (12%)
  • 4 (6%)
  • 3 (9%)
  • 2 (7%)
  • 1 (17%)

Total Voters: 204

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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157 comments on “Rate the race: 2021 British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying”

  1. No, thanks, Mr. Brawn.

  2. o hell no

    1. My thought

  3. If I understood correctly the new system, Hamilton had the best lap during qualy on Friday, and this Saturday again had the best lap, but will start from second? Is that correct?

    1. Think it like yesterday was a mini qualifying for the sprint race qualifying today, Hamilton won the mini qualifying to start in the best position of the sprint rcae qualifying.. max won the sprint race so he gets the pole…
      Or you can imagine Hamilton got fp3 fastest time which it doesn’t matter and Verstappen won the qualifying

    2. You are correct and I don’t think this is right.

      The concept of a sprint race is not bad and the first 5 laps were actually surprisingly enjoyable (8 laps maximum should be enough for a sprint race, make tyre deg a complete non-issue, and keep DRS off). The sprint race result shouldn’t have this consequence. It should just be a bonus race, but determining the GP grid with it is just going to scare drivers away from taking it to the limit.

  4. Maybe if we didn’t have all those other rules it could work. But no, no thanks.

  5. I don’t get the whining. We got quali and two races. Was entertaining.

    1. They’re not 2 races. That’s the problem. We had 2 races at the Red Bull Ring. We have one race here, and another session that is intertwined to qualifying and to the GP in a very complicated manner.

      1. Semantics. I race vintage cars and we have the same exact format except we call it a qualifying race.

        1. Do you have all the rest of the rules in vintage cars? Parc ferme, mandatory tire changes and all those things?

          This was no stand alone race, ergo, not a race. Teams were too careful, too calculating. With all the data gathering going on, today’s sprint is going to make Sunday’s GP an even more predictable procession. If you must, then have this thing ran on fridays, and then resume with a more normal program. It could work better if it wasn’t all mixed up with the other sessions.

      2. Is it really that complicated?

        1. It’s not complicated at all. And people don’t need to understand parc ferme rules.

    2. It’s pretty simple. It’s an extra few hours you need to watch to get the full story of the weekend.

      I usually only bother watching qualifying and the race – free practice never really interested me, even with the TV commentary as most of the time they don’t know what the teams are actually doing.

      It means that I’d need to watch Friday, Saturday and Sunday to see all of the meaningful sessions. Ignoring that Friday is a week day, it’s an extra sessions of TV time and adverts to throw at us watching.

      What F1 has forgotten is that there are only so many weekends in the year, and that taking ever more time from other things will only lead to people moving on to other things. 16 races was a managable number and even 20 was OK, but at 23 it’s too many weekends, particularly summer weekends, that I need to clear to be able to watch the race live. That’s just not going to happen anymore, which is why I use the cheap version of F1TV as I have other things I want/need to do.

      Add in Sprint Races, and that’s another session I need to find time to watch. Assuming this was to be rolled out in full, I’d guess that most events would hold it, so I’d need to find an extra 15-20 hours to watch more F1. There’s only so much I can take before I give up and stop watching, which as someone who has watched F1 since 1993, isn’t what F1 is going to want.

      Simply put, it’s overexposure to the product i.e. less is more. And my patience is getting very thin.

  6. It gives Verstappen chances to create new history on top of most wins of single season, which is sweeping all the Sprint Race wins this season.

    1. It counts as pole, not a race win

      1. Please… it’s not a race. It’s a Sprint! There was no racing. Only sprinting to pole.

        Perhaps Nike can provide the rubber for this segment of F1’s non-stop (but red-flagged) 3 days of action. The marketing oppourtunities just keeping rolling down Liberty’s slippery slope.

  7. As a race, was enjoyable, but really hope they don’t expand this program. There may be a track where it’s a good idea but not here.

  8. Never again.

  9. The sad thing is that a real race in Formula One is now labeled “Sprint Qualifying”.

  10. Okay. This is Silverstone. This is a track where overtaking is easier compared to the others. Today, we only had action at the start and once the S runners’ tyres faded. However, we saw a mistake from Perez, which was probably due to him pushing too much.

    Overall, I think we need another weekend of this format to see if it’s worth implementing in the future. But, this is a race where it shows that we do not need the Q2 tyre rule. It’s a lot better without it. Just give them Soft tyres in qualifying to use for the entire session.

    1. I agree, I would give a minus to sprint quali here in silverstone, let’s see the other 2, if the next is a plus, brazil decides… or not, it’s the worst state atm covid-wise, so will be cancelled.

  11. Zach (@zakspeedf1team)
    17th July 2021, 17:05

    It was.. ok I guess? Or at least I didn’t totally hate it. But at the same time it didn’t really give me anything that normal qualifying already didn’t. First lap was kinda interesting the rest was mostly boring. 3/10

    1. Spot on!

      1. “Normal” qualifying on Friday was ace.

    2. There was more racing after lap 1 than there usually is during a whole race. People like you have just committed to not liking this format. I have seen every single F1 race beginning with the 1979 season. So, I have a long term view. There has been so much change since then that it’s a joke to complain about this based on “purity.”

      1. There was no difference to the racing compared to a normal race…

      2. To my eye the racing after lap 1 was about the same as you usually get during the first stint after lap 1 of a grand prix race – which is not much. It is usually the most processional part of the race because everyone is on tyres of a similar age (and compound due to current tyre rules), only there is also no opportunity to save tyres to go long or push and pit early for an undercut because the race is designed to be a single tyre stint. The only racing after lap 1 was cars which were out of position working their way towards their natural position; Alonso falling back on his degrading soft tyres, Sainz recovering after getting pushed out of position early on. Other than that, and a mistake from Perez, I don’t recall anything else happening.

      3. Zach (@zakspeedf1team)
        17th July 2021, 17:52

        @fer-no65 lol where did I say anything about purity or not liking it? Reading comprehension issues much? I was curious about the format so I watched it, didn’t hate it, didn’t love it, big deal. Or is perhaps your own opinion the only valid opinion since you’ve been watching since ’79?

        1. (@zakspeedf1team) what are you talking about? I never replied you

        2. Me comprehension good very

      4. I disagree, nick, while I usually don’t like changes I wasn’t judgemental here before seeing it, I tried to like it, I didn’t, there was no more action than usual, in fact less since it lasted less.

  12. It was fine. Drivers played it safe after lap 3 though.

    Loved the Alonso vs Ricciardo battle.

      1. Sirry, ut wasn’t meant to be a reply yo your comment.

  13. I can definitely see the merit of this format in attracting new fans and if it serves that purpose, then great. But it is just way too short and it feels weird to not really get to any phase of degradation or strategy. I don’t think it’s right for qualifying but if it could be incorporated in some other context, then I wouldn’t be too opposed. Seemed more like an exhibition race which I suppose it kind of was in a way.

  14. Sam (@undercut677)
    17th July 2021, 17:07

    There has not been a single change in the last 20 years of Fornula 1 that many purists have not whined about. This race had free tire choices, no safety cars and no pit stops which many see as artificial. In a way it was more pure racing than we usually see so the purists complaining cannot do so based on the on track action.

    1. Agreed – absolutely nothing in F1 is praised until it’s gone!

    2. Agreed. And most of these people who think they are purists have not even watched or really understand the long term history of F1.

    3. I have an opinion
      17th July 2021, 17:24

      Nominate for C.O.T.D.

    4. Then how about we get free tyre choices and no mandatory pit stops for the ACTUAL race…?
      And maybe dump this unnecessary thing.

      The fact that FIA changed some of the things that bug us the most with the actual race, doesn’t make this sprint something so innovative, it’s just makes FIA hypocrites that instead of changing these things for the actual race, they ‘saved’ them in order to implement them here and promote this unnecessary qualifying part 2 so we like it more.

      1. Sam (@undercut677)
        17th July 2021, 17:44

        The only constant thing about F1 since its inception is change to the rules, car spec, formats, regulations, etc. and requiring teams to adapt. The fact that some fans have such a huge problem adapting is silly.

        This will always be a balance between pure racing and entertainment and this experiment was fine, it struck a good balance between both.

    5. +1 F1 fans live to complain.

      A flat out race without gimmicks is now bad just because……

      1. Exactly. And, if they’re going to whine, I can’t believe they don’t complain about much the sport has been watered down in “the name of safety.” For example: calling a safety car no matter how far off the racing line a car is despite no one ever dying from hitting a chassis on the side of the road.

        1. Partially agree, but if you don’t plan ahead for accidents that may still happen you might get a dead sooner or later, no one had died by hitting a crane before bianchi.

  15. Bottas braking in turn 1 to protect Hamilton´s second position is the most antiqualifying movement in the history of F1.
    I vote a 3 instead of a 1 just for the first lap of Alonso.
    We don’t need this experiment in Monza.

    1. @doctorlovesexy

      ottas braking in turn 1 to protect Hamilton´s second position is the most antiqualifying movement in the history of F1

      Mercedes team principal even said before the start that Bottas’ job was to protect Hamilton. Just don’t think of him as a racing driver and it will be easier to watch.

  16. “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”

    An idiom that the think-tank who came up with this idea has never heard of.

    1. John Toad (@)
      17th July 2021, 17:15

      Let me re-phrase that for you:
      “Let’s break it so we can come up with another fix”.

    2. So, you ride on horseback to work, right? Horse carriages weren’t broken either, so that is what YOU use for commuting. Either you do or you are hypocritical.

  17. Poor idea and gets a 4 from me. Artificial excitement doesn’t work. Apart from Perez posing 4th spot didn’t see any great moves in the grid position.

    FIA can try water sprinklers next and mandatory 2 pit stops but this is a horrible and I’ll conceived plan and doesn’t work.

    1. Sprinklers should be a good idea, look at how entertaining wet races are on average. Pit stops can also be interesting, agree so far about sprint races not working.

  18. What this thing contrubutes to espectacle, Mr. Brown? If you want to have espectacle, regulate in order to have equality or whatever you want.

  19. That parade truck, though… ouch!

    1. I think they’re trying to sell us something.

    2. @faulty Horribly cheap. And the wreath as well. Properly tacky.

    3. Yeah, the race itself was relatively fun, but everything else about it was gimmicky and/or annoying. Timing of sessions, wasting a Friday evening, the horrid F1 video game graphics on Alonso distracting from the racing, the stupid lorry… Experiment failed IMO.

    4. Coventry Climax
      17th July 2021, 23:46

      And the F1 tune is coming right out of my nose already. I thank the remote-maker for the mute button, but it is sad though, as this is supposed to be my favourite sport.
      And the Alonso name tag on his car? I knew they wanted a younger audience, but that young?

  20. We would not have gotten to see Alonso drag his balls across everyone’s faces on a Saturday if we hadn’t had this race this, but “oh no…we don’t like any change! It will mess with the stats and what’s more exciting than stats!” Example A of stats not meaning nearly as much as they seem: Alonso. Until Vettel started showing he is still a very good driver, people were screaming “fake champion! Take his titles away!”

    1. We would not have gotten to see Alonso drag his balls across everyone’s faces on a Saturday if we hadn’t had this race

      On a Saturday no but probably instead on the Sunday during the actual GP race which would have made it far more exciting

      As it is we now know that while he may get just as good a start tomorrow that he doesn’t have good race pace so even if he gets up front tomorrow we know he’s going to drop backwards which takes all the tension out of it.

      We just saw a race to decide the starting grid for the race based on race pace which takes all of the tension & unknowns out of the GP.

      Is not something I want to see them do more often!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1. You really don’t think being about 3-4 places higher than he would have been otherwise won’t have an impact? Even if it doesn’t, I appreciated getting to see the guys push hard for a couple laps. We already got to see their quali pace. Would an extra practice session have been more exciting?

        1. Yes it would.

          This gimmick race added nothing. It made real qualifying less relevant & will detract from the GP.

          It’s a pointless gimmick been introduced by Liberty who don’t understand the sport & want to turn it into NASCAR/indycar+ with a pseudo spec chassis that takes away all development & innovation in favor of gimmick formats like the farce we had to put up with this weekend.

          #LibertyOut!

          1. At least they’re still good on posting content on the F1 YouTube channel.

          2. Yeah, I am really leaning forward on the edge of my seat during P3. Just seeing that answer I can conclude you’re disingenuous.

    2. I don’t know.

      The start & opening laps were fun but then it just got more static & the only racing we really saw was Alonso losing the spots he gained at the start & Sainz recovering from the contact with Russell. Outside of those things there wasn’t really much else going on & most of them did seem to be holding back & not taking any risks.

      I do also think it will end up taking something away from tomorrow because we now go into tomorrow with a better idea of where everyone is in terms of race pace so we’ve lost that element of the unknown we would otherwise be going into tomorrow with.

      I don’t know, I just don’t think I like this whole format as of now. It’s not simply the fact it’s a sprint race, It’s the whole weekend format with qualifying on Friday (When I usually won’t be able to watch it live), Qualifying not deciding the grid for the GP with the sprint as an extra step, The reduced practice time, The pole stat/record going to the sprint winner rather than the fastest time in qualifying & some of the other things around all that.

      1. I don’t know why that ended up a reply rather than it’s own comment as is was supposed to be, But whatever.

  21. Decent racing.

  22. A bit of a farce.

  23. How about nope? Barely anything aside from the start, Mazespin and perez spinning, and Alonso defending antics.

    1. Alonso was breaking tows, not defending.

  24. Better than I thought, still a completely superfluous concept.

  25. Both some positives and negatives to take away. It’s nice to see some variability in the grid tomorrow that we otherwise wouldn’t have seen. On the other side, it still doesn’t slot perfectly into the Grand Prix weekend, and I can see them toyi g with it more to better achieve that.
    I think Monza will be a better test of this format to be honest, ideally with a longer FP1 and some Parc ferme changes.

  26. Paul (@frankjaeger)
    17th July 2021, 17:12

    I think it has potential. F1 has been calling for an all-out, turn it up to 11 race format. There’s too much tyre saving and avoiding battles in F1.

    With next year’s following deficit reduction, I think it can work. Make the teams carry a minimum fuel capacity so they burn it all with hard racing. Sprint tyres enough to last an entire 1/3. I’d also offer more point for 1-10, 1st being 10, 10th being 1

  27. Super Duper Ultra Hyper Mega Qualifying presented to you by Freddo Chocolae, McLaren’s favourite!

  28. I’m not disappointed, but then again I didn’t have high hopes and it was marginally less processional than I feared.

    I think this idea has some potential, but as Ferrari say this has just amounted to adding 100km to the race distance. F1 proved yesterday that it could hold a good event on a Friday evening, why not move the sprint to Friday, and keep Saturday and Sunday as they’ve always been? If it’s completely independent from the main race, we might actually see drivers treating it like a sprint. Heck, I wouldn’t even mind them chucking in reverse grids as long as qualifying and the race are unaffected by it.

    1. @jackysteeg that would make sense. Leaves fp3 for some further setup work and the usual quali practice. Qualifying aint broken, so dont fix it. This sprint qualifying gives people a chance to fix their bad qualifying, which just isnt an entertaining concept. A sprint race on friday, sure.

    2. Paul (@frankjaeger)
      17th July 2021, 18:24

      Yeah something like this sounds OK. I think F1 needs a all out race. P1 & Sprint Race on Fri, P2 & Quali Sat, Full race Sunday.

      Not sure how order for sprint is decided. Randomised?

  29. I’m not a big fan of this format as a concept but what I will say is that you also need to consider how it affects the whole weekend. So it’s not just the enjoyment from the sprint, because it also affects qualifying (it is less significant since it doesn’t set the grid for the race), and also the race, because it potentially provides a different grid, and gives information on the relative race performance of cars and drivers to teams, fans etc. As such, I’ll wait until after the main race before voting on this.

    1. @keithedin Agreed.

      I said after qualifying yesterday that I just didn’t get as into it as I normally would because knowing that isn’t setting the grid for the GP & we have this extra step in-between with the sprint (Race) tomorrow just sort of made it feel less important somehow.

      My dislike of the concept was never simply that they were adding a sprint race, It was/is also factoring in how it affects the rest of the weekend. I still have a worry that a good sprint will lead to a lesser GP because of drivers who qualify badly making up spots in the sprint rather than the GP & I still think that seeing a race start today & getting a better idea of where everyone’s race pace is will end up detracting from the GP to some extent.

      People keep saying it’s like a race with a 24hr red flag & using that analogy whenever we have had red flags & full standing restarts in the past (Going back to the 90s when standing restarts were the norm) the subsequent restarts always lack the buzz & excitement you get from the initial start because it’s something we’ve seen already & I worry that will be the case tomorrow for the start of the GP.

  30. Rate it? 5, right in the middle. Not enough information yet to judge the format fully.
    Need to see it a few times at different venues to find the equilibrium.

    Race start is usually the best part of an F1 race, and that’s basically all this system is.

    Love all the people voting zero. Great to see how open minded people are – or not.

    1. It’s not possible to vote 0, people voted 1 and even that isn’t the most voted number, that is 7, which surprised me.

  31. someone or something
    17th July 2021, 17:18

    To be fair, it was okay. Not overly exciting, but not terrible either.
    However, it has to be said that pretty much all the excitement hinged on two drivers: Alonso and Sainz. Alonso made the soft tyre gamble work, gaining places like a madman on the opening lap, then slowly dropping back and enabling the McLarens and Vettel to challenge him.
    It could’ve been the same for Bottas, but he didn’t get a good enough start, and once he lifted to allow Hamilton take the first apex, his race was over.
    Sainz was on the receiving end of a somewhat unclean move by Russell, which I feel should see him penalised (hint for the Stewards: 5 seconds would see him drop to 13th place, but since this was technically a qualifying session, maybe just give him a 3 places grid drop instead? ;-) ).
    From there, he made his way back up through the midfield, even though that was hardly shown in the broadcast.

    Now, the question is: Were these two elements, that made the session watchable, anomalies? Or can you expect something like this to happen most of the times, so that there will always be a few fans turning off the TV smiling?

    1. Yes I agree & wish others could see through the gimmick.

      If Alsono didn’t get that good a start & if Sainz hadn’t had the contact with George what else was going on in that race? Nothing it was the procession we all knew it would be!

      Serioulsy, Outside of Alonso been passed by 2 much faster cars & Sainz passing much slower cars what else happened? NOTHING!

      1. Perez losing it, verstappen passing hamilton at start, very little, about 50% voted insufficient, rest mostly 6, 7, 8 and I don’t understand why they were so high.

  32. Victor (@victorandrei1999)
    17th July 2021, 17:19

    It was really nice!!! I always loved the old format with 3 practices, Qualy, and race, but this is way better. There is a lot more action and there aren’t moments when nobody is on the track as in the past, with the old schedule. Really enjoyed this!

  33. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    17th July 2021, 17:19

    The title of this page really needs changing given how many articles mentioned it was not a race. What happened to “rate the sprint qualifying” ?

    1. Heh, cuz it was a race, despite Ross’ insistence otherwise.

  34. Not a bad opening but the whole session was so overloaded with gimmicks it was unbelievable. The ridiculous trailer, the hideous wreath, the constant reminder it isn’t a race while watching a race.

    1. @ryanoceros you my friend have hit the nail squarely on the head

  35. Of course exciting as it was F1 cars racing and a new thing, so I give it an 8, but I have no doubt the sour taste will come after a while of this. Especially if the championship is decided by it.

  36. Where was the reverse grid?

    1. @jureo Looks like someone has been living under a massive boulder…

    2. Not sure if serious, if yes, teams heavily opposed it twice I believe, so the idea was dropped.

  37. WHAT the bloody hell were those stupid video game graphics imposed on Alonso’s car in the following car view?!?
    WHAT value on Earth were those suppose to add? Has that ever been used before? Seemed a new thing to me.

    1. Wasn’t it on all cars? There were box like shapes on the outer edge of the tyres

  38. Gave it a 4.
    Not impressed but it was the first ever so I’m willing to give it a chance.
    It has simply distracted from and lessened the actual race tomorrow for me.

  39. I’m unsure, the weekends session start times are all different so it’s been a pain scheduling free time to watch it. Great for fans at the event though.

  40. Like someone said elsewhere, we now have a 24h red flag and continue tomorrow. This sprint thing takes all the drama and unknown from the actual race, that’s sad…

  41. I’m probably in the minority here but I quite enjoyed that.

    At the end of the day it is one additional competitive session at the expense of one non-competitive Practice session which I don’t watch anyway. So it gives me another session to watch over the course of the weekend that is also a more pure form of racing than the GP I guess (no forced tyre compounds or tyre management for example).

    Personally I think there are too many Grand Prix weekends these days, making F1 a much bigger commitment than it used to be. So from that perspective I guess fewer events per season but with an additional competitive session would be a good thing in my opinion.

    I don’t like that it awards championship points. That just feels like it puts those teams at the front even further ahead of the competition for no real reason. But my main concern is that with the data and knowledge collected today it will make the actual GP tomorrow less interesting as they pretty much have all the data they need in advance. Especially about the tyres.

    So all things considered I don’t think I can fully judge this format until the whole weekend is done. But given that I still got to see a traditional qualifying session yesterday and had a new competitive session today, my impressions so far are quite positive.

    1. Might seem so by the comments, but by the poll, about half the total amount of people liked it or found it acceptable.

  42. Ohh wow, wow, wow. Those who complain when drivers have to do tyre saving in a race are complaining today because there was no strategy element? Ahh, the hypocrisy.

    The confirmation bias is extremely strong with this one. This was a better 17 lap race than Silverstone 1 last year was until the penultimate lap. But no, let’s not open our minds.

    1. Ok, but if I recall silverstone 1 was absolutely horrible, so it’s not a good metric for comparison, take a better race, like silverstone 2?

    2. Here’s silverstone 1:
      1 (2%)
      2 (3%)
      3 (4%)
      4 (5%)
      5 (10%)
      6 (19%)
      7 (28%)
      8 (21%)
      9 (4%)
      10 (3%)
      Total Voters: 242, 78% of voters went from 5 to 8

      And here’s the 2 or anniversary gp:
      1 (7%)
      2 (0%)
      3 (1%)
      4 (3%)
      5 (5%)
      6 (14%)
      7 (25%)
      8 (32%)
      9 (10%)
      10 (3%)
      Total Voters: 239, 81% of voters went from 6 to 9, so a little better than silverstone 1

      So don’t know, I think it was voted slightly worse than silverstone 1 last year, because this time around we had 37% voting 1, 3, 5 and another 47% voting 6, 7, 8.

  43. Why was the race red flagged?

    1. The tyres were blistering too much

      1. lol

      2. True, both the leaders at least.

  44. Not sure this format is something i’d like to see used beyond this year.

    1. This is true.

  45. Middle of the road for me, I left my thoughts in the other post about the results, but long story short: Could be a lot better, could be a lot worse. Great for the fans, but the race and format from a competitive aspect doesn’t make sense to me. Start was electrifying and then overtaking alonso who worked himself up, the rest cruising about was very boring.

  46. 5/10
    Gets an extra point because it was thankfully short and there were a few overtakes.
    I fail to understand the purpose of sprint qualifying in F1. If the purpose is to show the pace of the car over one lap, then qualifying is more than capable of doing so. For me this lacks the very essence of a Grand Prix where it the endurance of a car and driver matters.
    Moreover, I think this underlined how poor the Pirelli tyres are in Silverstone and this is not the first time.

    1. True, really a lot of tyre problems, normally they give in 2-3 laps to go, luckily this was a sprint race, so they didn’t.

  47. If the 2022 cars reduce the dirty air like they’re claiming I can see these being pretty spicy. This one turned into another DRS train for a stretch unfortunately. Still, it was better than I expected.

    Just don’t make it a full time thing. Keep it special; keep it to 2 or 3 times a year.

    1. @nerrticus If the 2022 cars work as they hope we shouldn’t need any gimmicks or gimmick races.

      The normal weekend format is far better than the farce we have this weekend.

      Less track action is bad for fans, Qualifying on Friday is awful for fans, Saturday Gimmick race add’s nothing of value & takes away so much from the proper race.

      #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #LibertyOut! #NoToGimmicks! #NoToGimmicks! #NoToGimmicks! #NoToGimmicks! #NoToGimmicks! #NoToGimmicks! #NoToGimmicks!

      1. Calm down with the hashtags! I understand why you’re anti-Sprint Qualifying, but calm down!

  48. Meh, didn’t offer anything better compared to a proper race and didn’t offer anything better than we have for qualifying. The only way I can see the sprint offering something better is if the weather/track conditions changed during the race, otherwise it’s just an offering of milk toast.

  49. Voted for 2 by mistake. But it was good solid 3! We had:
    – Verstappen’s powerful start.
    – Nandito’s mega start and his defensive antics.
    – Red Bull and Mercedes on par.

    The rest was a bummer. So processional that even the reliably racey midfield couldn’t produce good battles.

    If, instead of 17, it lasted 3 laps, it would’ve been better.

    Yeah, a race so long the action dies after lap 3 and so short the tyre wear and fuel loads do not play their part to shake the tight midfield.

    In the end, this experiment was the perfect showcase of what people generally complains about F1. But, because it is a novelty (and the head staff is blindingly committed to it), I sense they are gonna keep forcing it.

    (Oh, and a shoutout to the reliably rubbish race director: props for being so consistent!)

    1. edit: a shout out to the reliably rubbish broadcast director: props for being so consistent!

      Though, the race director sucks anyway…

    2. Yes, that’s really bad and it’s been for a while, recently I downloaded an italian version of germany 2019 as that was imo the best race of the last decade, and I noticed they missed again several overtakes, so it’s not a so recent thing, without ever replaying them.

  50. I thought it was great. We got to be enthralled with the usual format yesterday, then we got the suspense and buildup for the Sprint and the usual ultra exciting start, and they didn’t just fall into place and cruise it in a procession as some had predicted, far from it, and now we get the usual race with another tense start again and all that a race brings. And as it turns out we’ll now get to see what Perez can do starting from the back.

    1. @robbie

      We got to be enthralled with the usual format yesterday

      Except for those who work or were at school and therefore couldn’t watch it live which therefore took a lot of the tension/excitement out of it.

      And then there’s knowing it isn’t setting the grid for the GP which also look a lot of the tension/excitement out of it.

      And then there’s that Hamilton’s amazing pole position lap can’t be called a pole position & was rendered meaningless thanks to a gimmick race been shoved in-between the real qualifying session & the grand prix.

      and they didn’t just fall into place and cruise it in a procession

      But they did. The only ‘action’ came as a result of Alonso dropping backwards from a good start & been passed by 2 significantly faster cars & Sainz in a much faster car easily passing slower one’s.

      The race at the front was a procession & the race between everyone else was also a procession outside of the McLarens & Sainz passing much slower cars.

      now get to see what Perez can do starting from the back.

      Which renders the actual qualifying session irrelevant.

      Awful format, Won’t be watching the next 2 gimmick race trials! Hate it, Hate it, Hate it, Hate it!!!!!!!

      #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut #LibertyOut

      1. Look. I know you strongly dislike Sprint Qualifying by a ton, I know you want Liberty Media to sell their ownership to another, I know you want DRS to retire, I know you want Pirelli out, I know you don’t like the new 2022 car…and I know you are really upset over what happened in Baku.

      2. @roger-ayles Soooo still on the fence about it I see;)

        As usual I PVR’d it and watched it last night without knowing what had happened ahead of time.

        It set the grid for the Sprint and the drivers seemed as excited and enthralled as if it had been for the Sunday race.

        LH had every opportunity to nail his start and retain pole for the race. He just didn’t but he started from the more advantageous position.

        The Sprint was enthralling, especially the buildup to the start and the start itself, and no less processional than the race. It was far more exciting than many predicted.

        1. Ahah, that doesn’t look on the fence at all! However, yes, it wasn’t a full procession, but disappointing for me, or better I think the criticism was proven right, it seems more negative than positive to me.

        2. Especially cause like the other person said, it’s not guaranteed there’ll be a sainz recovering or alonso defending with worse tyres every race, I remember cleaner starts.

        3. petebaldwin (@)
          18th July 2021, 0:23

          It was pretty processional personally. Some positions changed at the start and as the race unfolded, people moved back towards the position they qualified in. The race was set up well but then it just ended before it got good….

  51. When a 25% race exists in real life…but with 4 laps more.

  52. I just do not see the point. It is maybe the worst way to form a grid for a race. (as this is the purpose, isn’t it?) Either give them proper points and don’t call it qualifying or scrap this system. It is just not fair to penalize people during qualifying. Starting 200 meters behind the leader does exactly that, penalizes.

  53. To be really dramatic it needs to be much shorter, rewarding the kind of daring and tenacity shown by Alonso in this race: grab a few or many places and hold onto them before the ‘inevitable’ happens and a less bold driver in a faster car eventually makes a safe pass. That may be around 4-5 laps only.

    This format was reasonably interesting for its first run. But I didn’t see anything to suggest this iteration will stick around for much time. It needs ditching or modifying.

  54. Terrible 👎

  55. A lot of fuss just to determine the starting grid, no thank you.

  56. Well I quite liked it. I’m a 36 year old long time but I’d say still casual fan in some senses (I can’t recognise new bodywork on the floor or anything that niche but I “get” the racing).

    To me I quite like the jeopardy and the ability for someone like Alonso to just go nuts while others think of tomorrow. No it’s very far from traditional but it’s hardly like it’s a whole separate thing completely removed from the DNA of the sport. If anything it’s just more chance to see that DNA to shine through, and I like that.

  57. Except For those who work or were at school and therefore coUldn’t watch it live whiCh therefore tooK a lot of the tension/excitement out of it.

    And then there’s knowing it isn’t setting the grid for the GP which aLso look a lot of the tensIon/excitement out of it BrothER.

    And Then there’s that Hamilton’s amazing pole position lap can’t be called a pole position & was rendered meaningless thanks to a gimmick race been shoved in-between the real qualifYing session & the grand prix.

    AND they didn’t just Fall into place and crUise it in a procession

    But they did. The only ‘aCtion’ came as a result of Alonso dropping bacKwards From a good start & been passed by 2 significantly faster cars & Sainz in a much faster car easily passing slower ONE’s.

    1. Angriest rant of all time!

      1. Lol everyone needs a hobby.

      1. The next day: “Holy snap I’ve never seen a rant like this…”

    2. Classic post!

  58. Some exciting stuff there; quite enjoyed it. Better than many full races.

    Don’t think it needs 100km though; make it 10 laps or so to take tyre wear totally out of the equation.

    So far the only change I would make is have quali in the morning and then the sprint qualification a couple of hours later.
    Not too interested in the points either.

  59. It was good to see some ‘pure racing’ but I dont think it should influence the main race, and polesitter should be set in quali.

    So much more to discuss and argue, but all in all, that probably sums it up.

  60. So, the race, I mean a sprint to qualify for positions for the actual race, but the sprint was red flagged for 24 hrs. when the actual race begins the next day, then the three top winners – I mean pole qualifiers, rode around the track on a advertising bus speaking into a tv announcer, even though the race has not actually started yet even though the race started, oops sprint, is continued although 1/4 of the race was turned into a sprint, but the race is only 3/4 of an actual full race. Sigh…

  61. As for the ‘red flag’ comments, it’s ironic when safety car and red flag races consistently gets good ratings here.

    Also ironic for me who detests the unsporting race resets they produce, especially when it’s contrived for the spectacle, but didn’t feel the same way now.

  62. To me it was anti-climatic. After 3 laps it was about clear how the grid would look tomorrow apart from the odd mistake. It just misses the cut throat tension of a real qualifying, while the actual qualifying on friday lost some it’s charm, because it wasn’t for the real Race.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      18th July 2021, 0:17

      That’s pretty much my view of it. The race was set up nicely strategy-wise but then it just finished before anything happened. Quali is no longer “must-watch” on Friday. All a bit weird to be honest…. I didn’t hate it but in no way was it as good as the usual format.

  63. 1 (16%)
    2 (5%)
    3 (10%)
    4 (7%)
    5 (12%)
    6 (17%)
    7 (19%)
    8 (10%)
    9 (1%)
    10 (3%)
    Total Voters: 135

    Good idea to have a poll for the sprint race as well, I didn’t expect one cause there’s not one for qualifying normally.

    My father gave it 4, I went for 5, my mother went for 3 despite not watching f1 following our negative comments, ahah.

    In any case obviously I went with my own vote here, and looking at this poll I think people liked it more than us on average, half were still insufficient, but then there’s a huge amount of people who gave it 6, 7, 8.

    In my opinion there wasn’t a lot of action, I don’t like dismissing a thing before trying it, but I see more negative than positive, which is why I didn’t give it a seriously bad mark but couldn’t give it 6.

  64. Absolut waste of time!

  65. Neil (@neilosjames)
    17th July 2021, 23:38

    6.

    But -1 for spoiling my enjoyment of, and the whole feel of, qualifying. -1 for ending when it seemed to be heading for the most interesting part. -1 for spoilering exactly how each car’s race pace is for the actual race tomorrow. -1 for being a generally horrible idea… and -1 for that absurd bus at the end.

    So that’s a 1.

  66. Waste of time. They could have made it 2 laps and it would have been better.

  67. If the cars could follow closely it could be great fun. There’s huge value to the fans in the grandstands also, completely changes their weekend for the better.

    The length might need tweaking depending on what we’re expecting from the tyres next year but it seemed to go quite quickly.

  68. petebaldwin (@)
    18th July 2021, 0:11

    It was ok I guess. I gave it a 3. First couple of laps were good then nothing really happened.

    I personally wouldn’t call it a success but if others prefer it to normal qualifying, then fine. At least we still get a proper race on Sunday and I’d get my Saturdays back on GP weekends. Quali has to be watched live to really enjoy but I’d be happy to catch the highlights of this.

  69. I did not like it much. But here’s what I propose, which would include a sprint race (order/days of FP could be swapped; see details after): the Saturday (morning) qualifications do determine the grid for Sunday, and on Saturday (afternoon) there is also a sprint race with a half-reversed grid (say, the first 10, or the first 8 in reverse order), which would give some points (more than in the current test and to more drivers, but would not change the Sunday grid).

    _ Friday: 2 free practices;
    _ Saturday: 20/30 minutes warm-up & qualifications in the morning; sprint race awarding some points to the first 6 drivers, say, with circa half-reversed grid;
    _ Sunday: regular race (with grid as determined by the Saturday morning qualifications).

  70. But Ross said that everybody loved it!

    1. Guess my harsh criticism is going at him now after Masi said he doesn’t check emails!

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