Gabriel Bortoleto believes F1 has a “problem” after scheduling a sprint weekend at next year's Singapore Grand Prix.
F1 revealed its sprint calendar in September, with the six events to be staged in Shanghai, Miami, Montreal, Silverstone, Zandvoort and around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The Singapore venue, however, is one of the more challenging tracks on the schedule due to the walls set up close to its edge, which leave little margin for error.
The sprint race would also likely take place in the daytime hours, a first for Singapore, whose grands prix have taken place after the sun has set.
When he was informed there would be a sprint in Singapore next year, Bortoleto told the media, including RacingNews365: “They may have a problem.
“I’m not a rookie anyway next year, but definitely it’s a problem. Singapore in the daytime… not ideal.
“I’ve been lucky to get into F1 at this moment. There are some sprints, but not a lot of them yet.
“But for the future rookies, I think having sprints, only one free practice, it’s not going to be easy.”
F1 facing 'hard limit'
F1 is exploring the possibility of boosting the number of sprint race weekends going forward, with 12 - half of the calendar - on the agenda.
Bortoleto declared he had no major concerns about increasing the figure but asserted that the sport must limit how many sprint events it has per season.
“I’m used to the current format,” he said. “I believe that the current one is not bad.
"I like that you have FP1, FP2 and FP3 to develop, to test things in the car and to fine-tune things.
“That’s what I find fascinating about F1, how you can go into details and fine-tune things.
“When you have a sprint weekend, it's always a short time, and you need to do things quickly, and sometimes you don't maximise things in time.
“I believe it's nice for the entertainment of the fans and the weekend, you have more racing and more important sessions in this sense.
“But I'm not so sure I would go more than 12 at some point. I think that's already a hard limit.”
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