Formula One’s established weekend structure built around practice sessions, qualifying and a race on Sunday afternoon could be revised and changed to brighten up the show next year, F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn said Friday.
The former title-winning technical chief at teams including Benetton and Ferrari, as well as his own Brawn F1, said he felt the stability of regulations in 2020 provided a good opportunity to “try some variations” including a change to Friday practice and the introduction of a ‘sprint’ race on Saturday.
“I’d like to see us try a few things in 2020,” he said.
“I think we’ve got a stable platform in terms of the cars and things are not changing that much so I think ‘20 could be a good opportunity for one or two races to try some variations.”
Brawn told Sky Sports F1 that he wanted to see changes and experiments in pursuit of improving the spectacle and entertainment level at a Grand Prix weekend.
“I don’t see any other way that we logically progress the race format. I think the basic race format is good, but would a sprint race be interesting?
“Or would some changes to qualifying be interesting? I think the teams are up for doing some variations during a Saturday to see if we can find a better solution.”
As new American owners Liberty Media pursue plans to expand the calendar around the world with more races, Brawn indicated he is keen to keep costs controlled by shortening the weekend.
“We want the cars to run on a Friday, but is there a way of shortening the weekend, from an operational point of view, for the teams because they all turn up on a Tuesday, or even a Monday, to get ready?
“If we could restrict that, had a tighter ‘parc ferme’ and controlled the time that a team was at the circuit, then we could shorten the operational weekend for them and turn it into a three-day weekend.
“We remember when you would turn up on a Thursday afternoon and everyone would get there, put the cars in the garage, and go racing. Now they turn up two or three days earlier because they want to get everything ready.
“I think Fridays are important for promoters. It starts the weekend off, but could we have two sessions on a Friday afternoon for instance? Maybe slightly shorter sessions? And then that means the teams can prepare on a Friday morning.”
Vettel calls for return of German GP
As Brawn outlined some ideas for a possible blueprint of the future for F1, Sebastian Vettel was keen to promote his homeland’s claims for a return to the calendar after being dumped in next year’s proposed 22-race schedule.
The introduction of a Vietnam Grand Prix and return of a Dutch event led to the German race being dropped.
The Ferrari driver, who topped the times in opening practice on Friday morning ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, said he was anxious to try and see that the sport’s traditional and most historic European heartland races were preserved.
A keen F1 historian, Vettel said: “Formula One needs to be in Germany and hopefully it will look into it again. I think it is not possible for F1 to lose races in countries where there is a big history like Britain, Italy, and Germany.
“It is a big shame, but I guess it is a money question.”
This season’s rain-swept German Grand Prix produced one of the most spectacular races in modern times, but that was not enough to keep it on the calendar.
“I hope that wherever we go as a replacement, we will have as good a race as we had in Germany –- and as many people in the grandstands, which is not a given.”
