Stroll: F1’s sprint qualifying format could lead to “boring” races

F1 trialled its sprint qualifying format for the first time at the British Grand Prix last weekend. 

The format was met with mixed reviews with fans welcoming three days of meaningful action, while the sprint didn’t add much more in terms of action besides Fernando Alonso’s stunning opening lap. 

The scheduling of the weekend was also criticised with the decision to run a practice session between qualifying and the sprint pointless given that the cars were in parc ferme conditions.

Speaking after finishing eighth on Sunday, Stroll believes that because everyone is allowed a free choice of tyres, it could lead to more unexciting races.

“Yeah I think that’s something they’ve got to rethink but it could lead to some boring races, strategies can be pretty straightforward when it’s a free tyre choice for everyone,” Stroll said. “So maybe that’s something they need to rethink, but we’ll see how the next few Sprint race events go.

“I think we have to see in the next few Sprint races how it goes. There’s definitely some modifications I would make on the schedule. This weekend there was a lot of waiting around on Friday, we started very late and then just one free practice - maybe there’s a way of getting two free practices in before qualifying. 

“I still think the fastest lap should be rewarded with pole, not the Sprint race qualifying winner or whatever you want to call it.I think there’s definitely some things that Formula 1 might need to rethink. But it’s cool doing two races. 

“Maybe they can extend the first one a little bit to create a little bit of a tyre delta and then throw in the mandatory soft start or qualifying tyre start for the main race which mixes strategy up, because I can see races being pretty dull if we always see the same strategy between all the cars.”