In an interview with Speedweek, Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko gave his opinion on GP weekends with sprint races…
Helmut Marko: Red Bull organizes the Austrian GP stage and the sprint race is a bonus for the fans and the stage organizers as the spectators can see the extra qualifying on Friday and the short race on Saturday. Hence, tickets for Friday and Saturday sell better.
But this is the commercial side. And in terms of sport, I prefer the traditional GP weekend, as the sprint takes some of the interest out of the main races. Also, since the participants only have one practice session, they can’t always hit the adjustments on the machines, as was the case with us in Brazil two years ago. Under the rules then in force, changes between sessions were not allowed, so the race in such a case was lost in advance.
In the end, as an organizer, I like the sprint weekend, but as a fan and sports representative, I don’t.”
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