F1: Reverse-grid races being considered for 2020 season

It’s reported that Formula One owners Liberty Media are in discussions with the FIA and teams about the possibility of changing up the format in the upcoming opening races which are due to hold two official championship rounds.

Liberty Media have proposed that Austria’s Red Bull Ring and Great Britain’s Silverstone (permit-pending) host a ‘sprint-race’ on a Saturday to decide the grid for the the ‘feature-race’ on the Sunday.

The grid for Saturday’s sprint-race would be made up by reversed championship order, and with both circuits well-known for good overtaking should make for a mouth-watering prospect.

The grid for the second Grand Prix at the circuit would be contested in its usual format with the 18/15/12 minute qualifying shoot-out.

This would give Formula One, its teams and fans with different ways to enjoy the weekends, but also constructive feedback on whether the format would work in the long term.

Formula Two have contested the sprint/feature races to great effect since it’s introduction, and although qualifying is decided week-to-week in a standard qualifying session, the feature races sees the top eight cars reversed for Sunday’s longer feature race and offer much closer racing.

An opportunity like a reversed grid will give the fans more excitement as they watch the powerhouses fight from the back, whilst allowing smaller teams such as Williams and Alfa Romeo some added crucial TV time as they hold off the likes of Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

It was reported that while the FIA was in full support of the idea, one Formula One team disagreed with proposals, and with an unanimous support vote required to implement the idea, a vote was not taken on Friday and only preliminary talks discussed surrounding the mechanics of the new format.

The FIA will hope a vote can be taken soon, as with the new season only a month away, new rules, regulations and instructions will have to be written into law, and with limited time left the governing body of Formula One will not haste to put the idea away if teams squabble over detail and leave little time for the legislation to be completed.

Reverse-grid races and the two-race sprint/feature race formats have been discussed by fans for several years, along with Ross Brawn’s suggestion that having qualifying on Sunday morning and shortening the race weekend could be a way to add excitement and lower costs for teams. It seems this is the closest Formula One has come to providing a new format to its standard Grand Prix event.

Teams will be wary, the 2016 ‘Elimination’ qualifying format was lambasted by teams and fans, and removed after the first round in Australia. They will want assurances that the format will not hinder the TV time and chances for their cars to thrive in the race.

However, with F1 in a situation with two races per location at Austria and most-likely Great Britain, this may be the best option for Formula One to offer the fans something different, and potential bring in a new audience with a totally different spectacle.

Expect more news on this over the next week as teams meet again and discuss the layout of the race weekends in the opening rounds, but it seems this idea is as close to being implemented than we’ve ever seen before.