Starting in Baku, the first of six sprint races this year, the teams have discussed a format change whereby sprint events and grand prix would each have their own qualifying sessions.

There has been general support for the new format, which has yet to be finalized, as it means sprints will no longer affect the race and drivers have no reason to be safe on Saturday.

But Red Bull’s Verstappen said he was still “not a fan at all” as the sprint would only add to the team’s already tight schedule.

“I don’t like it at all,” he said in Melbourne.

“I think the weekend will be more intense when we’re going to do all these things, we’ve played a lot of games.

“I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. I understand, of course, they want to be exciting basically every day, but I think it’s better to cut down on the weekends and just play on Saturday and Sunday, and then those two days are exciting.

“Because we’re going into a season where you’ve got 24, 25 games at some point – because that’s where we’re going to get into – if we then start adding more stuff, that’s not going to matter to me anyway. worth.

“I do not like that.”

Plus: Why Verstappen’s F1 sprint ‘exit threat’ isn’t rooted in reality

Verstappen also said sprinting was not in F1’s DNA, and felt the scene would automatically get better as teams started to focus more on performance.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, first, with his medal on the podium

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

“Even if you change the form, I don’t think the DNA of Formula 1 is for these kinds of sprints,” he said.

“F1 is about making the most of it in qualifying and then having a fantastic Sunday, long race.

“That’s the DNA of the sport and I don’t understand or I don’t know why we should change it because I think the action is good.

“And how you get more action is to get the cars closer and more teams to be able to fight for the win. I think the show is going to be great naturally.

“It would be crazy if we had six or seven teams already fighting for a win. Then you don’t really need to change anything.”

Mercedes driver George Russell was initially in Verstappen’s camp but admitted he was already enthusiastic about adding sprints because they provide extra entertainment for fans.

“I wasn’t a fan when the sprint was introduced at the start (in 2021),” he said. “After doing it (six times), I became more popular.

“There’s action every day and also for the fans in the crowd … just watching the cars go through in practice, I don’t think it’s as exciting as qualifying or a sprint race like this.

“So I think it’s exciting for us, for the team and for the fans.”