Montreal, QC – Coming to an F1 race near you: Shorter Grands Prix. Formula One hopes to lean on more energy from gasoline to help solve the power issues plaguing the sport this year, but at the cost of more fuel consumption in grands prix.
Essentially, the shift to a 60-40 gasoline-battery split requires a larger fuel cell to ensure they make it to the end of races, something that can’t happen because the teams want to use the same chassis next year.
So, with that out of the picture, shorter races at some venues in 2027 becomes the only other way to make it work.
“We would look at selective races and, of course, only where absolutely necessary, by shortening them by maybe one or two laps, limiting laps to grid to one,” said Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane. “So, of course, maximizing any potential race length, but that’s already in place and ready to go.”
Permane added that the team bosses already came to an agreement to allow teams to carry over their chassis and it simply won’t allow for a 310-kilometre race at all venues.
While changing the chassis to accommodate a larger fuel cell would eliminate the need to shorten races, the teams would rather focus their energy on making their cars better rather than retooling existing elements to adapt to a new power split.
“From a chassis point of view, it’s absolutely possible,” said McLaren boss Andrea Stella. “The 60/40 is for the good of the sport. I think there’s a general interest that prevails over the particular interest, and this is an important opportunity for the F1 community to make sure that the sport is in a strong position. So, we do hope that this process will be successful.”
Circuits most likely to see a reduction in laps include Singapore, Monza and Montreal.
The fuel issue definitely did not raise its head in the F1 Sprint at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve where Mercedes driver George Russell fought an early spirited battle with teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli and then held off defending world champion Lando Norris of McLaren to take the win in the 23-lap event.
After starting from pole, Russell led his teammate while the young Italian waited for an opportunity, which came at the beginning of Lap 6, but it didn’t work and the challenger ended up going through the grass. Antonelli made another move at Turn 8, only to go into the grass again and lose a spot to Norris.
As Antonelli complained on the radio to the team, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff went on the radio to say: “Kimi, concentrate on the driving please, not on the radio moaning.”
After the checkered flag, Russell said: “It was a cool race. It was difficult to get a gap, the slipstream was quite powerful. Good battle with Kimi, glad we are both standing here after the race.”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fourth, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounding out the top-five.
Later in the afternoon, Russell repeated his Sprint qualifying performance and took his third-consecutive pole in Montreal for Sunday’s 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix. Antonelli starts second and, coincidentally, the gap between the pair turned out to be exactly the same as Friday’s Sprint qualifying session, 0.068 seconds.
“I never had it hooked up until that last lap in Q3,” said Russell. “I knew I needed a big lap and, on my prep lap, I saw Kimi go purple and I thought ‘I need to bring something big here.’ Tomorrow looks to be wet, that’s going to be a whole new challenge as well.”
Norris lines up third for McLaren, with teammate Piastri fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth in the Ferrari.
Canadian Lance Stroll got knocked out of qualifying in the first round and will line up on the grid in the last row, in 21st. His teammate Fernando Alonso starts 19th. Stroll finished 16th in the Sprint race.