Let reserve drivers do sprint races — it's the answer to F1's problems

However, the sprint could continue in a different format and present the solution to several of F1’s problems – most of all providing entertainment on a sprint Saturday once and for all.

Instead of using the current field of drivers, sprint Saturdays should utilise the current field of reserve and test drivers that get little to no time in grand prix machinery.

The grid could be set to the then-current championship order of the race drivers (with reserve drivers attached to their race counterparts), and then reversed, with constructors’ points going to drivers’ respective teams.

Competitors that currently get little chance in F1 machinery would be thrust into the limelight for a Saturday afternoon gladiatorial spar.

Who doesn’t want to see Daniel Ricciardo bring back his famous divebombs in a Red Bull or for Mick Schumacher prove himself in a Mercedes?

F1 could also get around the frankly embarrassing state of affairs over the last two seasons when the past two reigning F2 champions – Oscar Piastri and Felipe Drugovich – both had to sit out the season following their title year.

Having Piastri strut his stuff in no-holds-barred sprints would have been brilliant, and it certainly would have been interesting to see what Drugovich could do in an Aston Martin with Lance Stroll currently struggling so much this year.

Others away from F1 could be brought in as well – why not reward a Le Mans-winning Ferrari Hypercar driver with a sprint drive at an affiliated team? McLaren use its Indycar stars in F1 (calendar permitting)?

Drivers desperate to earn a permanent Sunday ride would put almost everything on the line – but with a little held back in reserve knowing that they hold responsibility of contributing constructors’ points for their teams. That, combined with the performance differential in a reverse grid race, would make for exhilarating stuff.

You would preserve the so-called sanctity of F1’s meritocracy (ha!) amongst its current Sunday crop, but still provide the thrills and spills motor racing fans crave.

Yellow flags and safety cars would be likely, so why not make the sprint a 30min race instead of having a set number of laps? That way the clock could be stopped during yellow flag/safety car/VSC periods so the afternoon doesn’t turn into a damp squib as marshals gather up bits of broken carbon fibre.

The cost cap would have to be lifted slightly as a result of the inevitable carnage which will sometimes unfold with young drivers fighting it out, but how much of a problem would this cause?

If F1 teams weren’t comfortable with Saturday races contributing to their constructors’ hauls, an alternative would be to make the sprint into a mini championship in itself, with the prize being some form of funding for the winning driver’s career. If not relevant – say in the case of Ricciardo – the money could go back into grass roots motor sport to help those who never get a chance in F1.

After all, F1 has never tried to pretend sprints exist for some kind of greater racing ideal – it’s simply about putting on more of a show on a Saturday and therefore getting more people to watch.

The unused set of reserve drivers kicking their heels could provide the answer to that.