Monaco Grand Prix with Sprint – Sergio Pérez: “The drivers’ group chat has gone wild”

Fans remain divided over the sprint format in Formula 1. As a reminder, the traditional schedule for a Grand Prix weekend is as follows: two free practice sessions on Friday, a third free practice session and Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, followed by the Grand Prix on Sunday.

Under the sprint format, drivers have just 60 minutes in a single free practice session on Friday to fine-tune their cars, before moving straight on to sprint qualifying. On Saturday comes the sprint (100 km), followed by the final practice session for the Grand Prix, and on Sunday, as usual, the World Championship race.

As Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali had been announcing for months, the number of sprints will increase from 2027: no longer six sprint events, but ten – in Bahrain, Australia, Japan, Canada, Monaco, Great Britain, Italy, Brazil, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

A sprint in Monte Carlo, in particular, is causing quite a stir amongst fans and experts – and amongst the drivers too, as the Mexican Sergio Pérez confirmed in Baku. The 36-year-old Grand Prix veteran (295 Grand Prix, 6 wins, runner-up in the 2023 World Championship) says: “I found out via the drivers’ group chat that we’re having a sprint in Monaco. It goes without saying that there were plenty of comments; the chat went wild.”

Naturally, the next question was what exactly the drivers had been chatting about. ‘Checo’ Pérez: ‘What’s discussed in the group stays in the group. But I’m sure you can well imagine that it was a pretty lively back-and-forth.’

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And what does the experienced Central American think? “Running a sprint in Monaco simply brings an extra variable into play. In recent years, fans’ interest has often centred on Saturday’s qualifying. That’s because the result of the final practice session largely determined what happened in the Grand Prix.”

“I think the sprint format can shake things up a bit more. You may or may not be a fan of sprints, but there’s no denying that it makes the weekend more varied. As for me, I’m looking forward to it.”

Nine-time Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri says: “At first I was a bit surprised by the decision, but I understand why it’s being done. We have two final practice sessions, and that’s more exciting for the fans than just one. I don’t think we’ll see a very interesting sprint.”

“In Monaco, it’s all about building confidence step by step. You won’t have time for that in the sprint format. From that point of view, too, a sprint in Monte Carlo isn’t such a bad idea.”

Seven-time Grand Prix winner George Russell says: “That’s how I feel today – we’ve got so used to sprint weekends that the classic format almost seems a bit drawn-out to me. We live to push a Formula 1 car to the limit; we live for the rush of adrenaline during competition, and there’s more of that on a sprint weekend.”

“I also reckon that a sprint in Monaco would be rather dull. But that’s offset by the sprint qualifying on Friday. A sprint qualifying session is always more interesting than a second free practice session.”