Reaction has been mixed after Formula 1’s first planned two-day race weekend at Imola.
Practice was limited to just a single 90-minute session on Saturday morning at the Italian circuit, before qualifying took place as usual in the afternoon and the race on Sunday.
It was thought the reduced running might spice up the race, and it did in terms of varying the tyre strategy as some were unsure how long each compound would last.
However, whether it was something F1 could implement permanently remains up in the air.
“The two-day format of the weekend worked well,” F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn wrote in his post-race Formula1.com column.
“We’ll take some interesting learnings from it moving forwards. It adds another string to our bow for the future.”
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was also a fan, though doubts it should become the norm.
“I like it very much, it’s so compact. [There’s] lots of adaptability needed. You just have to get the car in a good position straight from the get-go, there’s not a long time to analyse data and run the simulator overnight,” he explained.
“But I don’t think it works for every track. I think there will be big races, hopefully with a lot of spectators again, where a three-day event makes a lot of sense – thinking about Melbourne and the amount of people there, and the narrative, the content that we can provide around these tracks.
“I don’t think it’s fit for everybody, but I think for [Imola], it works really well.”
However, Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer was one of those somewhat bewildered by the whole experience.
“I think it’s got to be from a fan’s perspective – do the fans like this kind of format?” he pondered.
“I thought I would like it, but it’s a bit foreign to me. After 23 years of having Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it feels a little bit odd and unnatural.
“Going into the weekend I was completely open for it, thought I was going to like it. But now I’ve got this uneasy feeling that it’s not right and not Formula 1.”
In addition to the format change, Brawn also commented on F1’s return to Imola after 14 years and noted how the layout brought out different elements in both driving and strategy.
“The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was a terrific race at a very historic venue which brought back a lot of personal memories,” he said.
“We’ve been to a few classic but new-for-2020 tracks this year and they’ve all demonstrated how the layout of the track can inspire great racing.
“That’s why we want to be involved in the design and planning of any new tracks that come along, using the lessons learnt.
“We believe any new track should be an opportunity to create something special, and with the organisation Formula 1 and the FIA have built now, I believe we can deliver that.
“It also applies to the type of cars we have. We are constantly working hard on making sure the cars of the future can deliver great racing.”