Motor racing-Monaco sprint ‘makes no sense’, says Hamilton

Formula One F1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - September 23, 2026 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton arrives ahead of the press conference REUTERS/Jakub Porzycki

BAKU, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Seven-times ⁠world champion Lewis Hamilton said a Formula One sprint race in Monaco made ⁠no sense, with the principality's tight and twisty street layout needing a different ‌solution to spice up the action.

Formula One announced Monaco as one of a record 10 sprint venues when it published its 2027 calendar last week.

The move caused some surprise, with the harbourside layout, where overtaking is almost impossible, ​serving up exciting qualifying action but processional races won from ⁠pole.

While a sprint weekend would give ⁠fans two qualifying sessions, it would also mean another race in addition to Sunday's showcase grand ⁠prix ‌that, while shorter, is expected to be just as devoid of overtaking.

"It makes no sense to me," Hamilton told reporters at the Baku street circuit on Wednesday ahead ⁠of Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"I have always said Monaco needs ​to be different.

"We have ‌included sprint races, and I think that has brought something new to the sport ⁠but we need ​to come up with something new for somewhere like that."

"I don't know what that is, but sprint races are not the answer," added the Ferrari driver and three-time Monaco winner.

Formula One introduced the sprint format ⁠in 2021, trialling it at three races that year.

The ​2026 season features six sprint events, with Singapore, another street venue, set to host the year's final sprint next month.

A Saturday sprint victory is worth eight points to the winner, meaning a ⁠driver can come away from the weekend with a maximum of 33 ratherthan the usual 25 if he wins both.

Formula One said that its data showed total viewership of sprint weekends was 12% higher than non-sprint weekends.

But McLaren's reigning world champion Lando Norris said there were better ​venues at which to host a sprint.

"Honestly, it's not our decision ⁠to choose where we race, so again, no point wasting my time thinking about it," said ​the Briton.

Red Bull's four-times world champion Max Verstappen, never ‌a fan of the sprint format, added, "It's the same ​scenario as what happens in the main race right?

"You are excited for the start and then you can't pass."

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in BakuEditing by Christian Radnedge)

Thank you for your report!

一级方程式F1 - 阿塞拜疆大奖赛 - 巴库城市赛道，巴库，阿塞拜疆 - 2026年9月23日 法拉利车队的刘易斯·汉密尔顿在新闻发布会前抵达 路透社/雅库布·波尔齐茨基

巴库，9 月 23 日（路透社）——七届世界冠军刘易斯·汉密尔顿表示，在摩纳哥举行一级方程式短程赛毫无意义，因为摩纳哥狭窄曲折的街道布局需要不同的解决方案来增加比赛的刺激性。

一级方程式赛车上周公布了 2027 年赛历，其中摩纳哥被列为创纪录的 10 个短程赛举办地之一。

这一举措引起了一些意外，因为在几乎不可能超车的海港赛道布局中，排位赛虽然精彩刺激，但正赛却往往是杆位发车后一路领先最终获胜。

虽然短程赛周末可以让车迷们观看两场排位赛，但也意味着除了周日的重头戏大奖赛之外，还要再进行一场比赛。虽然周日的重头戏大奖赛赛程较短，但预计同样不会出现超车。

“这对我来说毫无道理，”汉密尔顿周三在巴库街道赛道对记者说，当时距离周六的阿塞拜疆大奖赛还有一段时间。

“我一直都说摩纳哥需要与众不同。”

“我们已经加入了短距离冲刺赛，我认为这给这项运动带来了新的元素，但我们需要为类似的地方想出一些新的东西。”

“我不知道那是什么，但短程赛并不是解决办法，”这位法拉利车手、三届摩纳哥冠军补充道。

一级方程式赛车于 2021 年引入了冲刺赛制，并在当年的三场比赛中进行了试行。

2026 赛季将举办六场短程赛，新加坡（另一个街道赛道）将于下个月举办今年的最后一场短程赛。

周六的冲刺赛胜利可为获胜者赢得 8 个积分，这意味着如果一名车手赢得两场比赛，他周末最多可获得 33 个积分，而不是通常的 25 个积分。

一级方程式赛车表示，其数据显示，短程赛周末的总收视率比非短程赛周末高出 12%。

但迈凯伦车队的卫冕世界冠军兰多·诺里斯表示，还有更好的场地来举办短程赛。

“说实话，选择在哪里比赛不是我们能决定的，所以再说一遍，没必要浪费时间去想这个问题，”这位英国人说道。

红牛车队的四届世界冠军马克斯·维斯塔潘一直都不喜欢冲刺赛制，他补充道：“这和正赛的情况是一样的，对吧？”

“你对比赛开始充满期待，但之后却无法超越。”

（阿比舍克·塔克勒在巴库报道，克里斯蒂安·拉德内奇编辑）

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