Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is weary of “change for the sake of change” and wants the format of the race weekend to remain the same.
There were rumours the Chinese GP could be moved to Saturday last weekend, after organisers feared the weather on Sunday would force them to cancel the race. Fog in Shanghai caused the cancellation of both Friday practice sessions.
Though the race was eventually held on Sunday as scheduled, the rumours prompted debates about the future format of race weekend. Shorter races, two day weekends, and multiple races per weekend have all been suggested to meet Liberty’s aim of improving the racing spectacle.
Lewis Hamilton was one of the drivers keen for a shake up, but his championship rival says the change would be “quite bad”.
“I think it’s important to keep a certain framework consistent throughout time,” he told NBC. “Every now and then, it’s important to listen to people but I think with surveys it’s always difficult to get a very clear picture. I think too much change, equally, is wrong.
“Just to give an example, when there was talk about the race format, I think it would be quite bad to get rid of one race, one grand prix.
“It would take away the highlight of the weekend by putting two races, or to make the race shorter.
“They say it’s too boring and lasts too long. I think that’s the grand prix: that’s how it’s always been. It’s been even longer in the past, if you look a long way back, and it should remain a challenge. Making it shorter, more exciting, whatever, I think it’s not a grand prix any more.”
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