Wolff picks sides as Hamilton and Russell clash over "really stupid" F1 idea

06 December 2023 , 18:43

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Toto Wolff has made his feelings about reverse grid Sprint races very clear (Image: HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Toto Wolff agrees with George Russell that reverse grids for Formula 1 Sprint races would be a "really stupid" idea.

But Lewis Hamilton is more open to the change which is being considered for the 2024 season. The F1 Commission is currently considering what tweaks can be made to the Sprint format which they want to persist with, but acknowledge needs changes to make the action more exciting.

Among other ideas, the most eye-catching is the potential for the grid order to change for the Sprint. In theory, placing faster cars behind others will lead to more overtakes and therefore create a more entertaining product for viewers.

It is a proposition which appears to have split the two Mercedes drivers. Hamilton is open to the idea and said: "The best Sprint race I ever had was when I started last [in Brazil 2021] and so I'm in favour of the reverse order, except if we had that then everyone will just try and qualify last!"

But team-mate Russell is not so keen. He said: "I won't talk on behalf of the drivers, but my own personal view is I don't think reverse grid races will work - purely because I learned this when I raced in Formula 3 and Formula 2.

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"If you've got the 10 fastest cars, the most challenging car to overtake is the one who you're fighting with. If you reverse that grid, you're going to have the quickest car in 10th trying to overtake the second-quickest car in ninth, which is trying to overtake the third-quickest car which is in eighth. So, each car is actually trying to overtake their most direct competitor.

"What you'll probably actually find is it would just be a DRS train, because you might have a Williams leading from a Haas, who can't quite get past, who's leading from an Alpine, who's then leading from a McLaren or whoever. So I think the concept won't work."

Asked for his opinion on the reverse grid idea, team principal Wolff sided with the younger Brit and made it clear he is not a fan of the Sprint format in general. He said: "I can understand the service, that people like it - there's more people like it than don't.

"Maybe I'm too purist, too old school, but I'd rather have a Grand Prix than a Sprint race weekend. We need to know that a Grand Prix is at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, and that's it. We've now done these Sprint race weekends and we are tweaking the format, which I think is positive.

"To a degree, you do a Sprint qualifying, you do a Sprint race, you do Grand Prix qualifying, and you do a Grand Prix. That works much better. We talked about reverse grid races. I can get my head around a reverse grid Sprint race because at least we are really declaring that's the stupid race.

"Six times a year, we're doing something that is really stupid, and everybody knows to differentiate that. There will be other winners and different podiums, that's refreshing. So we do WWE on Saturday six times, and then we play Formula 1 24 times on Sunday."

Daniel Moxon