Fernando Alonso proposes a quirky idea involving Red Bull in order to ‘spice up’ sprint weekends

In order to spice up the new format's 'Sprint Shootout', and the weekend in general, Fernando Alonso has put forth a rather zany idea involving Red Bull.

Fernando Alonso proposes a quirky idea involving Red Bull in order to ‘spice up’ sprint weekends

Fernando Alonso

Formula 1 ‘debuted’ a new sprint format in Azerbaijan, last weekend. It featured two separate qualifying sessions, one for the sprint race, and one for the feature race. There was only one practice session. This resulted in a very chaotic weekend in Baku, and not everyone was a fan of the format. Overall, it drew rather mixed reactions – as the sprint, and the feature races ended up being rather dull. Fernando Alonso has a rather funky idea to spice the format up.

However, one of the positive changes, many felt was the removal of Saturday FP2, which had been rather useless in the previous format. But the races themselves, though not necessarily due to the format, were not particularly entertaining. This was a logical consequence of Red Bull’s incredible advantage on the rest of the field. And it is here, where Alonso’s idea comes into play.

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When asked how he had felt his day went on Saturday, the Spaniard said: “I think it’s okay. Obviously, I like the idea of less practice, and the fans, for sure, will like to see more action. The only point for me is that I felt the (sprint) qualifying was a little bit repetitive of what we had the day before.” The ‘Sprint Shootout’, as it’s termed, has the normal qualifying format. The change is that the sessions are shorter, and the use of mandated tire compounds – mediums in SQ1 and SQ2, and softs in SQ3.

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Summing up the changes, Alonso added: “It was more or less the same cars that went through Q1 and Q2 – only Alex (Albon) and George (Russell) instead of Tsunoda and others (Oscar Piastri), but for the rest of us, it was very similar.”

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Fernando Alonso’s proposal: “Red Bulls starting last!”

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso

It is obvious that the format needs some polishing. But again, the ‘boring’ races, or sessions, are also a feature of just how dominant Red Bull have been. Fernando Alonso does see the need to ‘spice things up’. He said: “We can maybe spice up things a little bit more for Saturday’s qualifying. Easy to say but then the teams will never agree to spice up too many things. So I think we have to trust (F1) and listen to the fans as well to see if they really like it and try to help.”

Asked by Speedcafe what he would propose to spice up the order, Alonso had Red Bull in his mind. The two-time world champion said: “Red Bulls starting last!” Indeed, at this stage, this seems the only solution to curb their dominance. Of course, it’s not the Milton Keynes team’s fault – other teams simply have to do better. The three teams closest to them currently are Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Mercedes.

All of these teams are expected to introduce upgrades in the coming races. All three will introduce upgrades in Imola, with Ferrari, and Mercedes, in particular, bringing MAJOR upgrades. But even if the upgrades help the teams out, it’s hard to see them competing with Red Bull for the championship. That may just have to wait till 2024, but it’s possible this trio can challenge them for race wins, sometime this season.

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