This year, Max Verstappen is on the verge of making a hat trick of championship victories. Apparently, he is ahead of the rest after three races of the season by a significant margin. It will take a hell of a challenge to beat the Dutchman.
The Red Bull ace is lucky to have the fastest car on the grid at the moment. But it is not like a walk in the park for even Max considering the different race tracks. There are certain tracks, like in Australia, where the roads are as smooth as they can get.
On such smooth tracks, it will depend on the driver to go as fast as he can. But if the tracks are like that in Bahrain and Saudia Arabia, the drivers will face trouble if there is a lack of reliability in the car. That’s what happened with Lewis Hamilton and the W14 car. But when it comes to the streets of Baku, where the scope of danger is more considerable, the idea of a sprint race does not really thrill the drivers or even the rest of the teams. The current champion Max Verstappen is the worst critic of these sprint races in Azerbaijan.
Max Verstappen Does Not Think Sprint Races Are Important
The main reason why the drivers hate the sprint races, especially Max Verstappen, is the equation of rewards and risks. The winner of these sprint races gets 8 points, which is the maximum reward a driver can get. However, with a terrible track, a driver can crash and damage the car very easily. A damage to the car can cost the teams and the drivers the whole season. These sprint races started back in 2021. Hence, it is not a traditional Formula One-type race. So Max Verstappen is right when he says these sprint races do not really match the DNA of the sport.
Boss Christian Horner also agrees with Max Verstappen that the sprint races can be attractive and exciting for the fans to watch but a nightmare for the drivers and team principals. Max Verstappen suggested that there are a few things that are bothering him about the new rules. The FIA and Formula One have increased the number of races in the calendar year and introduced these terrible sprint races to entice spectators and fans all around the world. Max has warned that he might retire early if there are any more races added to the calendar. The 1996 champion Damon Hill is not impressed with that attitude as he said, “Max Verstappen should retire if he is not having fun anymore. Otherwise, it just looks like a grind.”
The last season saw Lewis Hamilton hurt himself while driving in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Mercedes W13 car, anyway, had a lot of bouncing troubles. But the streets of Baku and the sprint race did not immensely help them. If it was not for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the German team would have no positives to take away from the previous season. George Russell won his maiden race in Sao Paolo, and Lewis Hamilton secured the P3. Carlos Sainz came in between the two Mercedes drivers in Brazil last year.