The claim that young people lack the attention span to follow long-format material was one of Formula 1’s justifications for introducing shorter sprint races as an alternative to grands prix in 2021.

Now Formula E’s chief executive Jeff Dodds has made a similar claim, but only offered one point to support his belief: his own inability to sit through a grand prix.

“I think the next generation of motorsport fans doesn’t have the attention span to watch for 90 minutes,” he said in a recent interview.

“I won’t stick around and watch the whole race. I watch the start of it, I go missing for the middle of it and I come back and watch at the end.”

Sprint Qualifying aimed at ‘young people who don’t want two-hour races’

Browse all Formula 1 articles