Despite dominance Max Verstappen explains the surprising change he'd bring if he were in charge of F1

Max Verstappen believes he would level the playing field and improve the quality of racing if he were in charge of the sport. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda ahead of the 2023 Mexican GP, the Dutchman felt retaining the normal race weekend format makes the weekend more exciting.

Not a fan of the street circuits or sprint format, Max Verstappen has always expressed his dislike for artificial tweaks to the sport. The reigning champion was also joined by Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris in suggesting ideas to improve the track surface at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. On trackside matters, the Dutchman has been a purist when it comes to the sport and how it should operate.

Asked by Sportskeeda how he would change the sport if he were in charge, Max Verstappen replied:

“Like, it's just bringing the teams closer together. Because naturally, you're fighting more. For me, that's really the main thing. Of course, you know, in terms of following and, you know, just general overtaking and all those things that you can improve on the car. But I think if you have multiple teams fighting for the win, it makes it interesting by itself.”

Asked if there was any other racing format he preferred on the weekends, the Dutchman said:

“No. Just the normal race format and just having all the teams close to each other. That will be exciting enough anyway.”

Vocal about all things trackside, Max Verstappen has left no stone unturned when it comes to his opinions on improving the sport. As a purist, he believes the normal race format is probably the better one compared to the sprint format. The Dutchman felt that if he were in charge, he would focus on bunching up the grid to have multiple drivers and teams fighting for victory and improve the quality of cars to allow more overtaking on the grid.

With two back-to-back sprint weekends on the calendar in Qatar and Austin, Max Verstappen expressed his dislike for the sprint format at both weekends. He feels sticking to the basic principle of having multiple teams competing for a victory might make the sport more interesting rather than the artificial tweaks.

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Max Verstappen questions the need to tweak the sprint format in F1

Questioning the need for tweaks to the sprint format, Max Verstappen believes it doesn’t make sense to artificially tweak the F1 race weekend. With the current sprint format becoming unpopular, the sport has considered tweaking the sprint format or even improving it. Some of the ideas suggested were a top 10 reverse grid or even a separate sprint championship. The Dutchman found the idea ridiculous and felt the sport's regulations should be left alone.

Asked what he thought of the new tweaks being considered for the sprint format, Max Verstappen said:

“But I always felt why. Like, why do we need to try and invent something? I think our product works if you just make sure that the cars are competitive, and the rules will stay the same for a long time. Why are we always inventing new things? It almost sounds out of like craziness that ‘oh, we need to come up with something’. Just leave it the same. I mean, in football, they don't change the rules or in other sports. It's been like that for 100 years. Why do we suddenly need to come up with other things to try and make it entertaining? I think if you have a good race on your hands with cars being close to each other, then you don't need to a sprint format or a weekend.”

Asked how he felt about a standalone sprint championship, Max Verstappen said:

“It doesn't mean anything to me. Even if you would win it, it's the same now. I mean, you cross the line, it's alright. Well, tomorrow is the race. You know, the main one, that's how it goes. There is no satisfaction to win a sprint for me.”

While the sprint format has been interesting at times, it has a single practice session and has been used by teams as a test prior to the race. With few points to earn, most drivers and teams have not pushed or risked their sprint runs over the course of the season and preferred to nurse the car back across the finish line for the race. In Qatar, Max Verstappen had mentioned to Sportskeeda that despite voicing his opinion and dislike for the sprint format, driver opinions were often not considered in the interest of the sport.