F1 had agreed in principle with the teams to double the number of sprint races to six in 2022 after holding three trial events last year.
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Only three sprint qualifying races are expected during the 2022 season, according to Haas Formula One team principal Guenther Steiner. F1 had agreed in principle with the teams to double the number of sprint races to six in 2022 after holding three trial events with relative success last year at Silverstone, Monza, and Interlagos. However, a disagreement over money quickly erupted, tossing the plan into disarray. In an attempt to break the impasse, F1 has proposed a compromise of three sprint races this season. The issue will be discussed at the F1 Commission’s next meeting on February 14.
“I don’t know exactly what is happening,” Steiner said in a virtual press briefing on Friday following the presentation of the American outfit’s 2022 livery. “We are having a Formula 1 Commission meeting in [9] days and then we will see more where we are with that one. I think we will have three sprint races – but I don’t know that – So let’s see where we can get to, but I don’t have the answer yet.”
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McLaren CEO Zak Brown has slammed the big teams for lobbying for a bigger pay package, warning that the stumbling block could lead to no sprint races this year. Steiner says he understands why the top teams are pushing for budget cap exemptions, and he believes F1 will reach an agreement before the new season begins.
“If you’ve got money, the thing you need is a bigger budget cap – like when you haven’t got the money, what you try to do is to get more money,” he said. “So I think they are just doing their job. It doesn’t disappoint me but I think you’ve got the governance in place which will deal with it. That is what you have to do.”
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“We have to lobby on the other side that it doesn’t happen. So I think they try to use their power to move something that would help them to perform, which is being able to spend more money. Some teams just need more money, the budget cap is not the problem, it’s actually the cash [that] is the problem. I think the majority of people have got that problem. There is a governance in place, and that will sort the problem out in my opinion.”
