The outgoing president of the FIA, Jean Todt, has expressed his view that he is not a fan of the new proposed Sprint Qualifying idea; arguing that it is not necessary for Formula 1; however, the former Ferrari team principal is willing to give the new idea a chance when it is trialled at the British Grand Prix on the weekend of the 16th-18th of July.

Formula 1's new owners Liberty Media have brought in the idea of Sprint Qualifying to shake up the sport's existing format with the result of the Sprint Qualifying race now deciding the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix with three bonus points going to the winner of the race.

Qualifying, which will now decide the grid for Saturday's Sprint race, will be moved to Friday afternoon with a 60 minute practice session taking on Friday morning.

Sprint qualifying will also be trialled at the Italian and Brazilian Grand Prix's later in the season; however, Todt remains a sceptic of the idea according to Racer.com.

“We don’t call that a race — I have a part of responsibility not calling that a race for me the race is on Sunday. If you ask me if I am a big fan of that (sprint qualifying), the answer is no. I don’t think Formula 1 needs it, but on the other side, if people want to try something, it’s not going to hurt the race on Sunday. It will (just) be a different way of having the starting grid on Sunday."

However, despite his scepticism Todt has stated that it will not cause any damage to the image or the credibility of the championship.

“It costs nothing to try. I’m curious to see what will happen, but I am sure it will not damage the race on Sunday. People may say it might be more interesting on Saturday than on Sunday but that is not a big risk for the image and for the credibility of the championship.”