POLE POSITION: Formula One teams have spoiled sprint race fun, Lewis Hamilton comes clean on Ferrari talks and Lance Stroll is growing fed up at Aston Martin as he feels the chill blast of being Fernando Alonso’s team-mate

• Max Verstappen could win his third world title in Saturday’s sprint race at Qatar 
• Mail Sport first reported in May that Lewis Hamilton had held talks with Ferrari
• Lance Stroll has struggled at Aston Martin going up against Fernando Alonso

Saturday’s sprint race may be a special one if Max Verstappen clinches his third world title in Qatar.

It has been a one-way street of a season, but this monotony is a tribute to the Dutchman’s brilliance. He is one of the greatest drivers in history.

But that potential excitement does not excuse the sheer madness of the new sprint format, which will be given its fourth airing this weekend. Qualifying takes place tonight for the grand prix on Sunday — it requires acute long-term memory to recollect the grid by the time the lights go out.

And then tomorrow we get a sprint double-bill without moorings: a second qualifying session (the sprint shootout), which is likely to replicate tonight’s action in broad terms, and then a sprint that has no bearing on grand prix itself (yet which foretells how it will pan out).

The whole of tomorrow is an island dividing the events of tonight from those of Sunday.

Max Verstappen could clinch his third world title in Saturday’s sprint race at Qatar

F1 teams have spoiled the fun of the sprint race format which has changed since it was first introduced in 2021

Why? Because the teams like it this way more than the ‘old’ system, introduced in 2021, in which the sprint race determined the grid for Sunday. 

There was too much jeopardy in that for them. But at least this method provided continuity between qualifying and the grand prix. Each session had a relevance beyond the points on offer (now eight for the winner down to one for eighth).

The original sprint system is what Formula One should revert to. They won’t, though. Pat Symonds, F1’s chief technical officer, spoke out against doing so at a recent meeting in London, his opinion shaped by teams’ myopic self-interests. 

Stefano Domenicali, chief executive, was agnostic at the same gathering, happy to go along with the prevailing winds.

So we are stuck with what we have — this disjointed fudge. It’s what you get when you let the engineers run the show.

Stroll growing fed up  

So it looks as if all 10 driver line-ups this year will remain the same next? Hmm, well, what about at Aston Martin?

A little birdie tells me that Lance Stroll may not be inked in. There is a feeling that the Canadian might be growing fed up with his lot and is ‘minded’ to walk away.

Even if so, he may yet change his mind. Either way, he is feeling, as others before him have, the chill blast of being Fernando Alonso’s team-mate.

Lance Stroll (left) has scored just 47 points this season compared to Fernando Alonso’s (right) 174 with the Spaniard also claiming all seven of Aston Martin’s podiums this season

Hamilton DID speak to Ferrari

I almost called for medical assistance when I read Lewis Hamilton’s interview in the Swiss newspaper Blick this week. My ailment was side-splitting laughter. The reason: Hamilton finally came clean on having discussions with Ferrari prior to signing a new deal with Mercedes at the end of August.

Now, Mail Sport revealed in May that there had been dialogue between the driver and the Scuderia. 

There was much snorting at our scoop when Hamilton used his press conference ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix to deny any such link. 

Lewis Hamilton inked a new Mercedes deal earlier this year and previously denied that he spoke to Ferrari

Hamilton has finally come clean about having talks with Ferrari (Hamilton pictured alongside Ferrari star Carlos Sainz) 

Here we can compare and contrast what he said then with what he disclosed to Blick. Asked in Monaco if Ferrari had been in touch, Hamilton uttered a one-word rebuttal: ‘No.’

He also said: ‘Ultimately, unless you hear from me, then that’s all it is (speculation).’

So, lo and behold, to this week’s revisionism. ‘I’m sure we’ve had a few casual conversations,’ Hamilton coughed up. ‘I know a lot of good people there. But I never felt ready to move to Italy.’ There you have it.

Doha gift 

Race organisers usually hand over a small bag — containing a programme and a poster perhaps — to journalists when they sign in. An additional gift du jour a few years back was a USB stick. I considered opening a market stall, I collected so many.

Nowadays, in these greener times, a reusable water bottle is standard issue. They do spoil us.

But in Doha we have been given a blanket each. The thing is that while it is 40ºC or more outside, air conditioning makes it a fridge inside.

Bring on new blood to shake up cosy club 

The FIA has done the right thing in accepting an 11th entry, Andretti, to the world championship for 2026 — though this needs approval from Liberty Media’s Formula One Group (F1G) before the Americans make it to the grid.

There is too much reluctance among the teams to imagine this eventuating. It certainly won’t unless the joining fee of $200,000 (£165,000) is raised. 

That was the figure stipulated for any incomer prior to the Netflix effect sending team valuations into orbit, at up to a billion each. 

The Andretti name could soon be back in F1 after the FIA accepted them as an 11th team

I have heard it said, ‘But what if Andretti are backmarkers, what good will that do anyone?’ You might say that of existing underachievers. One senior F1G figure even dismissed Andretti as not being a name with resonance in F1. 

Well, steady the buffs! Mario Andretti, father of former F1 racer Michael who runs the team, was 1978 world champion after coming to Europe as the feted winner of the Indianapolis 500 and more. 

One new entry to shake-up the cosy old order is fine as far it goes. Alas, the FIA rejected other bids. Three/four/five disruptors — that would’ve put the fox in the henhouse.

Wolff to miss another race

Toto Wolff will miss a second race, namely this one in Qatar, following knee surgery. He will be in touch by intercom. He sure will when he wants George to make way for Lewis again!

Abu Dhabi 2021 replay?  

A thought. If Jurgen Klopp secures a replay to redress VAR’s faults, what precedent for Abu Dhabi 2021?

Verstappen controversially beat Hamilton to the drivers’ title in 2021 at Abu Dhabi

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