F1 not looking for “gimmicks” with format changes

Formula 1 will continue to evaluate possible changes to the traditional weekend format despite a proposal for a reverse-grid qualifying race getting snubbed, says CEO Chase Carey.

F1 discussed the idea of trialing a 30-minute Saturday sprint race set by reverse championship order to determine the grid for Sunday’s main grand prix on the second weekend of double-header events at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.

But the proposal failed to gain traction after Mercedes opposed the initiative, with Toto Wolff raising concerns that reverse-grid races could be manipulated while arguing that F1 does not need “gimmicks” to make the sport more entertaining.

Speaking in a video interview conducted by F1, Carey stressed that new ideas will still be considered.

"We've had discussions in the past couple of years about should we look at ways to make some changes that honour the sport, respect what has made the sport great but we think would be changes that would enhance the experience for fans,” he said.

"We've talked about a couple in the coronavirus context of these two [double-header] races.

"At this point we've had one that's been publicised about a reverse grid that not all teams were comfortable with, and making changes in this short timeframe requires unanimity of support.

"We're changing almost real time inside the season, but we'll continue to look at ideas. We want to make sure they're not gimmicks.

"It's a great sport with great history, great heroes, great stars, incredibly talented drivers and other individuals so we want to respect everything to a degree but we want to make sure that doesn't mean we wouldn't look at ways to make some changes.”

Carey feels the unique nature of the 2020 season due to the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has provided F1 with an opportunity to experiment.

"To some degree, this season being unique gives a little bit more opportunity to try something that I don't think we would do unless we thought it was a real possibility to add something to the race,” Carey explained.

"I think we always want to be challenging ourselves and [looking at whether] there are other things we can do to make the sport better."