Verstappen's opinion on the new F1 sprint format: sprint format more sensible, but not very excited about it.

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Despite excelling in sprints in recent seasons, Verstappen has expressed his disapproval of adding an extra shorter event to the weekend.

This year, the schedule has been revised to include the shootout on Friday, followed by the sprint and main qualifying on Saturday.

A significant alteration is that teams now have the opportunity to make adjustments between the sprint and qualifying sessions, thanks to the introduction of two parc ferme periods, whereas previously they were required to stick with the same car specification from FP1 onwards.

Verstappen, however, indicates that the alteration will not enhance the quality of the racing itself.

"I mean, it's a better format, I would say, in terms of how you approach the weekend," He made a statement.. "But I don't get more excited about the race itself.

"But at least I think it's better that you're still able to change the car for the weekend. And a bit more of a logic to it in terms of how you have the sessions now in the race weekends."

Carlos Sainz from Ferrari acknowledges the positive impact of the updated parc ferme regulations in terms of flexibility, but he believes that more modifications could have been beneficial.

"Regarding parc ferme rules, I'm a big fan of this change," The Spaniard stated." I suffered last year in Baku and in a couple of races a tough sprint weekend where the car went into parc ferme straight away after FP1, and I couldn't change something in the car.

"And that meant that I was on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, with still five sessions to do in the weekend, which for me made zero sense.

"I think a driver and a team should always be allowed to try and change things in the car if the car is not performing as it should or as expected. So I'm a big fan of that change.

"Regarding the [overall] sprint format, I would have rather changed a little bit more than what it was changed. But anyway I think the changes are in the right direction. They're small but in the right direction. Potentially, if you ask me personally, I would have changed a bit more."

Jody Egginton, the technical director of RB, has expressed approval for the flexibility to modify the cars, but has also warned that it adds pressure on the teams.

Enhanced factory simulation input will be necessary during the weekend to maximize the performance of the cars, leading to increased workload for engineers and mechanics at the track.

"When I fit my race engineering head, it's always nice to be able to play with the car for as long as possible and do what you can," Egginton stated.. "And also when I think about weekends where we weren't where we wanted to be early enough, I like the idea.

"But on the flip side, we've got to be sensible of working hours and how we operate. So it's pros and cons, but I'm quite happy with the change that's been made. I think it's a fair compromise.

"I'm old enough to hark back to the days when we used to be able to do everything we wanted for as long as we wanted. But the world's changed from that. So I wouldn't say that that's the ultimate goal now, but this is a sensible change, I would say."