2024: Unchanged Grid
The confirmation of Logan Sargeant by Williams-Mercedes on Friday, December 1, has led to a historic event: for the first time, the 20 drivers who participated in the last race of the previous year will be the same for the first race of the next season, in the same cars. Indeed, in 75 years of Formula 1, such immobility in the line-up of team drivers has never occurred. In other words, there is complete calm on the F1 planet, both on the 2023 track where Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominated the category like never before, and in the driver market, with all teams determined to rely on proven talent.
And, of course, the interest of the Italian public is not at its peak, as shown by the graph below, illustrating the five-year attention to Formula 1 expressed through news distributed via Google News. In our country, the peaks from 2018 to 2023 coincide predictably with Ferrari’s competitiveness, with the highest point related to the start of the 2022 season when the Scuderia seemed poised to compete for the title. The only exception is the memorable (and controversial) conclusion of the 2021 season: the spotlight turned forcefully to the exciting duel between the 7-time champion Lewis Hamilton and the young rival—and successor in the hall of fame—Max Verstappen.
Conversely, the graph tends to decline during periods of dominance and absence of duels, like the current one.
2024: Reverse Grid?
Even in the United States (a market dear to Liberty Media), attention to F1 is slightly lower than twelve months ago—although the calendar has expanded to three events—analyzing ESPN’s television audience, which has dropped from 1.2 to 1.1 million average viewers.
In recent weeks, the F1 Commission has decided to examine the update of the Sprint format, which has never fully convinced drivers and fans. For 2024, it has been decided to “further streamline activities related to the Sprint from those of the GP,” postponing the decision on the events that will host Saturday afternoon races to the coming weeks.
According to information reported by the German outlet Auto, Motor und Sport, the idea of Formula 1 to liven up the Sprints would be the reverse grid, probably closer to Formula 1 than ever. The proposal is seriously on the table and will be discussed in the first meeting of the new year in January. The idea is to have a starting order inverted along the lines of the F2 Sprint, with the tenth in the championship starting from pole. There is also much debate about the number of points to be awarded to the drivers: increase those for the Sprint with the risk of devaluing those for the Grand Prix?
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The rumors from the specialized outlet indicate that the tracks of Spielberg, Austin, Interlagos, and Qatar will be confirmed for this format, joined by Shanghai and Miami (replacing Baku and Spa-Francorchamps from 2023).
The intention is to have an FP1 session on Friday, followed by the Sprint Shootout; with the Sprint on Saturday, followed by the traditional Qualifying for the long GP, always scheduled for Sunday. In this way, the clear separation between Sprint and GP would allow the reopening of the Parco Chiuso, thus allowing teams to work on the cars. Another proposal on the table is the extension—on Friday Sprint—of FP1 from 60 to 90 minutes.
Will this be enough to revive interest?
