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Haas F1 boss Ayao Komatsu has spoken out against the idea of shorter races in the sport, claiming that a 300km race is part of Formula 1's DNA. The Japanese executive added that he believes that the sport needs to focus on the tyres to make things more interesting, rather than making the actual Sunday race shorter.
Recently, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicalli sparked a huge debate in the F1 world when he hinted at potentially having shorter races in the future to cater to a younger audience. The Italian also mentioned how he is constantly looking to make sure how the sport can evolve with time.
Haas F1 team principal Ayao Komatsu became the latest to have his say on this idea, as he completely opposed it in a recent interview. He began by saying that a 300 km race on a Sunday is part of F1's DNA.
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He also clarified that this was his personal opinion rather than his team's official stance, before adding:
"We’ve got Sprint races which is 100km, which is fine, but I think Sunday race, if the tire strategy is correct, it’s not one-stop, it’s somewhere between at least one or two stops, but ideally for me it’s more like two versus three stops." [via Pit Debrief]
"But of course if you’ve got a boring one-stop race, everybody stops on lap 15 or something, nothing else happens, it’s boring. But to me, it’s just as long as we’ve got the tire side right, and then I think for me Formula 1 DNA is that 300km race, but that’s my personal opinion," he concluded.
Komatsu then revealed that the length of F1 races has not been a topic of discussion among the team principals or any executives responsible for managing the sport.
Haas' Ayao Komatsu is also against the idea of reverse grids
Haas F1's Ayao Komatsu also clarified that he was not a big fan of the idea of a reserve grid, once again citing that this does not sit within the DNA of the sport. There have been discussions on this topic, with the possibility of reserve grids for Sprints being considered.
Speaking to the aforementioned outlet, the 49-year-old once again took a stand against a different kind of addition to the sport.
"I mean, I’m personally not a fan of reverse grids. Again, I don’t think it’s the DNA of Formula 1," said Komatsu.
We’re not doing a balance of performance either, so I think once Formula 1 goes into that direction, I think it could be quite dangerous. But again, that’s just my personal opinion," he added.
Komatsu also shared that there had been a few discussions regarding the topic of a reverse grid "some time ago", but there seemed to be a mixed reaction towards the radical idea.
