Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen clash over divisive F1 topic at US Grand Prix

Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s United States Grand Prix in Austin from the third row after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris

Max Verstappen has made his feelings clear on the sprint race format (

Image: Getty Images)

Max Verstappen believes Formula 1’s divisive sprint format “takes a little bit of the excitement away” from race weekends.

Verstappen won Saturday’s sprint race ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday. The format, which was introduced in 2021, sees drivers compete in a short race the day before the main event to earn some extra championship points.

Like many F1 fans, Verstappen isn’t a fan of sprint races. Yet Lewis Hamilton has described them as “fun”. Although the seven-time world champion believes the sprint format can be improved, he appreciates the added competitiveness and entertainment it brings.

Verstappen, who won this year’s championship at the sprint race in Qatar, gave his opinion on the matter on Saturday. “Love it, it’s fantastic,” he sarcastically said. “If you want my honest opinion about the sprint weekends, I don’t really get excited by it.”

Most F1 race weekends involve practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. Yet sprint weekends sees practice and qualifying on Friday, the sprint shootout (sprint qualifying) and the sprint on Saturday and then the race on Sunday.

Verstappen was speaking at a group press conference. He added: “I just feel like once you complete qualifying (on the Friday), you’re a bit lost. I feel like we only need one qualifying in the weekend where you really put everything on the line and it feels great.

“This morning as well, like you put it on P1, but… it’s a Saturday and there’s not many points anyway for the race. And besides that, like now we’ve done this race everyone more or less knows what’s going to happen tomorrow between all the cars in terms of pace.

“So takes a little bit the excitement away from it. If we wouldn’t have done today, and we only had that qualifying yesterday, you don’t really know what’s going to happen before the race. So everyone gets very excited, turning on the TV, because you don’t know. And also we didn’t know. Now we know, a little bit.”

Verstappen won Saturday’s sprint race in Austin (

Image:

AP)

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Hamilton joked Verstappen sounded “a bit bored” before the world champion responded: “I’m not bored, but if I would be a fan I would just be disappointed because then you know you’re more or less know the picture and nothing crazy happens. You know what’s going to happen tomorrow.

“So I find that takes away that magic of waking up on the Sunday morning or Sunday afternoon and you turn on the TV, and you had qualifying, but you’re not sure which car is going to be quickest, in most of the years, and it takes that magic away I find.”

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Hamilton then said: “For me, it’s fun. I like having the extra opportunity to get out there and try to squeeze every little bit and more out of the package that we have.

“Can it be better? Sure. I think it’s been exciting for people so I personally quite like the sprint weekends. Particularly the Friday I really like, where you only have one practice session and then you are straight into qualifying.”

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