Daniel Ricciardo is concerned introducing reverse grid races into Formula 1 would “devalue” the achievement of winning.
So far, F1 bosses have tried and failed twice to get approval for the change, which would see the current qualifying format replaced by a 30-minute sprint race to decide the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix and see the drivers line up in reverse championship order at selected events.
A third attempt for 2021 also looks set to fail with as many as four teams currently rumoured to be against the idea, this despite Ross Brawn pointing to the recent Italian Grand Prix as an example of what could happen.
But Ricciardo explained why a Pierre Gasly win that day at Monza would feel different to a Gasly win thanks to a reverse grid.
“Personally my fear with going down this direction is, you see the last few races we’ve had some red flags and it’s mixed up the field at times and that’s been really exciting,” he told RaceFans.
“But that’s also been organic because there’s been incidents in the race and that was the outcome of a situation.
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“I’m just worried if we add it an artificial way and mix up the field and then every driver’s then getting an F1 win, does the value of an F1 win hold what it does today?” the Aussie, who is one of eight F1 race winners on the grid, pondered.
“So I think that’s where it’s going to be, that fine line and that balance, and that’s my kind of reservation with the first thought of it.
“It’s tough because we want more exciting races but it’s still Formula 1 and everyone holding the big trophy, it should hold a certain level of value and maybe that would be diminished somewhat with a reverse grid.”
What’s most telling is even those who would seemingly benefit from a reverse grid race are opposed to it.
Instead, Haas’ Romain Grosjean says F1 should respect what the likes of Mercedes have done and focus on creating more competition.
“I still don’t like it. Even though we’d start on pole, I don’t like it,” he said on the idea.
“I think the midfield battle – sorry to say, but once you remove the Mercedes and Max Verstappen – the battle is going on absolutely flat-out and it’s mega. So I guess the solution for me is somewhere else. We just need to find a solution that the cars are more together in terms of performance.
“Mercedes has been doing an incredible job for many years now and if everything stays the same for next year I still see them being World Champions and probably Lewis being eight-times World Champion, which will be very incredible.
“But I think to me it’s more that we need to bring the field together rather than trying reverse grid and things like that because, I don’t know, it just doesn’t fit quite what I’ve been growing up with and what I’d like to see in Formula 1.”