F1 teams reportedly fail to come to an agreement over financial terms of Sprint races in 2022 season

The future of F1 sprint races is in jeopardy as teams have reportedly failed to come to an agreement over an increase in the budget cap. Top teams have reportedly stood firm over their demands for an increased budget allocation to accommodate “expensive” Sprint races.

Speaking in an interview with Reuters shortly after Haas F1’s 2022 car launch, team principal Guenther Steiner said:

“We have to lobby on the other side that it doesn’t happen. There is governance in place that will solve the problem out in my opinion. We are having a Formula One Commission meeting in 10 days and then we will see more where we are with that one.”

Starting last season, F1 has introduced a budget cap to limit the team’s spending to under $145 million per year. This was done to bring some semblance of equity between teams across the grid and to prevent teams with vast resources from dominating the sport.

After the budget caps' introduction, a few top teams struggled to adjust to the limited spending, especially after racking up several million in crash damage due to some high profile crashes throughout the season.

With the budget cap further shrinking to $140 million in 2022, these teams have expressed concerns over their ability to develop their cars throughout the years. McLaren CEO Zak Brown had previously claimed that some top teams were demanding an additional $5 million per year allowance to accommodate Sprint races.

Speaking to RN365 in a post-season interview, Brown said:

“One team in particular wanted a $5m (£3.7m) budget cap increase which was just ridiculous with no rational facts behind it. You have to anticipate and have the extra money just in case something happens. You end up sitting there and realizing it is just nonsense. If you do happen to have more crashes, well that is part of the sport, like a football player getting injured. We shouldn’t solve it just by getting the chequebook out.”

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F1 should hold off on its Sprint race plans until 2023

F1’s new management has been enthusiastic about trying out new formats and ideas to improve the sport since taking over the sport’s reigns in 2017.

After much deliberation of various ideas, including reverse grids, the FOM finally settled on “Sprint Qualifying” – short races held on Saturdays to decide the grid for Sunday’s main event.

The reasoning behind the format was to increase the excitement for the Grand Prix while providing “bite-sized” action to the sport’s younger and attention-deficit fans. At the same time, F1 was careful to ensure that sprints did not outshine the main event on Sunday, hence the “Sprint Qualifying” name.

Nevertheless, the event received mixed responses from fans. While they did produce some action, notably in Silverstone and Monza, they were essentially the first stint of a Grand Prix race that added nothing more to the weekend.

The original intention behind the experiment was to “spice up” the format and bring in more excitement, given how boring F1 races had come to be in recent years.

With the sport entering a new era in 2022, however, with brand new cars deliberately designed to produce more racing, F1 would be wise to hold off on the sprint plans for at least a year.

Should the new regulations fail to yield the promised results, the FOM could fall back onto Sprint qualifying in 2023.