Aug.2 (GMM) Formula 1 bosses say they are open to reinventing the sport’s weekend format again in future, amid speculation Liberty Media may push for further changes beyond 2026.
In Hungary on Friday, team bosses and suppliers were asked about Liberty’s direction since acquiring the sport in 2017, and whether F1 needs to continue evolving to maintain mainstream growth and audience relevance.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella praised the work done by Formula 1 and CEO Stefano Domenicali, but admitted more change may be necessary.
“We all have a responsibility to sustain this journey that F1 as an overall business is going through,” he said. “As part of this responsibility, we need to be open to reinventing ourselves if this is needed to sustain this growth.
“We understand also that the fandom has changed, and it could be that there’s a need to review the way we approach free practice, the way we approach the entire race weekend.
“I think we have to be open to that. Obviously, we will try to be reasonable, we will try and protect some elements of the DNA of Formula 1, but definitely, I think it’s part of our responsibility to contribute.”
While rumours have swirled about expanding the number of sprint races or reshaping Friday practice, a recent leak from Zandvoort appears to confirm that the number of sprint events will remain at six for the 2026 season.
Beyond that, however, the door remains open – even though further changes are likely to be unpopular with many drivers and purist fans.
New Alpine team boss Alan Permane, said: “We need to give our customers what they want at the end of the day – the spectators, the people watching us. I think sprints are good fun. I’d be happy to do a few more, no problem.”
Mario Isola, motorsport boss at Pirelli, agreed that evolution is necessary, even when the sport appears healthy.
“Changing something when everything is going well is risky, and nobody wants to take any risk,” he said. “But if we don’t want to be late, we need to anticipate what could be the success of the future Formula 1, that is not granted, as Andrea said.
“We arrived at this point because Stefano and his organisation decided to do something that was at the beginning quite strange, unusual – and it worked well. So now we are saying Formula 1 is a fantastic platform for all of us, but we need to continue with this bid to create something new.”
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