During 2017, the year Liberty Media took over Formula 1, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was asked for his view on introducing reverse grid races.
“I hate that idea,” he replied. “I think the grand prix is the big event on a Sunday afternoon. Anything gimmicky around that is just WWF, to be honest with you.”
For many in F1, reverse grids represent a shift away from the sport of racing towards becoming a scripted, made-for-TV entertainment product. World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation) has long been the most famous example of this.
“I saw a comment from Toto Wolff on this one,” said Sergio Perez in 2020 when asked about reverse grids. “He said that Formula 1 is not WWE. And I agree.”
But opposition to reverse grids from a strong majority of drivers and other figures in the sport hasn’t convinced Liberty Media to give up on the gimmick. Stefano Domenicali, who took over from Chase Carey as F1 CEO in 2021, has continued to push for their introduction.
Liberty’s attempts to introduce reverse grid sprint races were thwarted repeatedly by opposition within F1. After its third bid failed in October 2020, amid opposition from several teams, it appeared to change tack: Sprint races were introduced for 2021, at just three rounds, and with the starting order decided by a qualifying session.
The mixed response to the sprint race format was captured in a survey Liberty Media ran in conjunction with another publication. From over 167,000 responses, 40% agreed sprint races “improved the show” while 34% disagreed.
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The same 2021 poll also revealed huge opposition to reverse grid races. Over two-thirds of respondents – 68% – disagreed they should be introduced, while those in favour were outnumbered by four to one. Reverse grids was an even less popular proposal than success ballast and awarding points for qualifying.
Our polls have yielded similar results. A clear majority of RaceFans readers have consistently told us they prefer the traditional grand prix format.
Nonetheless Domenicali has invariably characterised sprint races as being overwhelmingly popular. Since 2021 Liberty Media has conducted its own surveys through its F1 Fan Voice platform, so we can only rely on their own interpretations of their data on how attitudes have changed in the last two seasons.
Based on these numbers Liberty Media believes…
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