F1 News: Max Verstappen On "Chaotic" Sprint Race Weekends - "I Never Really Enjoy"

Max Verstappen has spoken out on the sprint race weekend format.

Max Verstappen has criticised the sprint race weekend format yet again after the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying session. 

Speaking during the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen said that he does not enjoy the sprint race weekends as if you make a mistake "you are stuck with it for the rest of the weekend". 

Despite putting in the fastest lap during the chaotic qualifying session, Verstappen will start the race on Sunday from sixth position due to a five-place grid penalty for exceeding the allocated amount of gearboxes allowed per season. 

Verstappen explained:

"It's definitely a bit more hit-and-miss, because we went onto the slick tyres during qualifying and then you finally start to pick up a bit what the car is actually doing.

"I think luckily it wasn't too bad. With these kind of sprint formats, when you have a FP1 like that, but even if it's like fully dry, it's still sometimes a bit hit and miss, and that makes it always very chaotic. That's why I never really enjoy these kinds of weekends, because you just don't have the time, and then once you do a mistake, you are stuck with it for the rest of the weekend, and I don't think it should be like that."

The first and only free practice session earlier today was rain-soaked, making it difficult for the drivers to get out on track to do the necessary runs they had planned. 

Verstappen went on to say that he knows the sprint races were brought in to bring some more drama to the weekend, but he doesn't believe that should be the way it is done. He continued:

"So for sure, you can do better things with the format, but I guess they implemented that for this particular reason, so there's a bit more chaos and people not getting it right.

"But with how advanced everything is in this sport, I don’t think that it should be like that, that on a Friday, if you arrive with the wrong setup or you make the wrong call after FP1, that you're stuck with it for the rest of the weekend, which basically also happened for us in Brazil last year. It's just super painful."