F1 sprint race proposal needs defined rules - Aston Martin

Aston Martin technical director Andrew Green says the rules surrounding Formula 1's sprint race proposals need to be clarified if the concept is to be trialled this season. 

The proposed idea would have qualifying moved to a Friday with a sprint race taking place on Saturday to decide the grid for Sunday’s race.

Following a meeting of the F1 Commission last month, the idea appears to be backed by most of the teams although nothing has been officially agreed upon. 

Initially, F1 wanted to implement reverse grid races, however, the idea was scrapped.

Speaking after the launch of Aston Martin’s AMR21 last week, Green stressed the need for the regulations to be clarified promptly due to the knock-on effects a second race in a grand prix weekend would have.

“Firstly, we need a set of regulations and we haven’t got that yet,” Green said. “We’ve seen the proposal, which I think most teams were in favour of examining, but the devil is in the detail and the detail hasn’t been thrashed out yet. 

“There are lots of discussion points and lots of areas that need looking at and you can think of quite a few off the top of your head: how much of the car are you allowed to change between events, are we allowed to change the brakes, and more importantly what happens to the power unit allocation? 

“We’re sort of locked in, the engines have been designed and dyno signed off for a certain type of season. To go away from that from a power unit perspective is quite a challenge. So there’s a lot to discuss, there’s a lot of detail to sort out. 

“I think there’s a general willingness to make it happen but as I said I think the devil is in the detail here.”

Aston Martin CEO Otmar Szafnauer added: “In order for us to do sprint races, it is about getting the rules around sprint races, that is paramount. If we don’t get the rules right, because the cars are already designed and built, we could jeopardise the main race with the sprint race.”

New Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel has already blasted the proposals, saying the idea “makes no sense”.