Is it time to adjust our expectations of F1 sprint races?

For a gauge of the level of enthusiasm for the return of Formula 1’s sprint race format at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, you only needed to glance at the replies to F1’s tweet marking the beginning of the first ‘sprint week’ of 2022 on Monday.

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“Nobody asked for this,” wrote one follower.

“I love watching cars drive around for 25 laps without taking any risks at all,” said another.

“It’s still a pointless gimmick that has no real functional purpose,” began another popular response, among several disappointed F1 had chosen entertainment over sport and amused that it couldn’t even execute that effectively.

The people have spoken, but F1 isn’t listening. When it comes to sprint racing, it never has. It doesn’t seem to want to, preferring instead to march on with its fingers firmly in its ears.

Perhaps the most grating aspect of F1’s three-race experiment with sprints last season was the sycophantic rush by those invested in its success – Liberty, F1 and television presenters and pundits alike declaring it an emphatic triumph.

At best, those with a vested interest ignored the evidence of their own eyes and allowed themselves to get a little too carried away by the novelty value; at worst it was highly disingenuous as