Bak will host the first of the six Grand Prix that will have this modality.
An even greater commitment to the show. That is what Formula 1 promises with the new sprint formatwhich will premiere this weekend in Azerbaijan and it will be repeated in another five Grand Prix this season.
It is a proposal with fewer free practice sessions and more qualifying sessions. “Strengthen the spectacle of sprint weekends and improve the action on the track for fans around the world,” the FIA said in a joint statement with promoter Formula One.
The pilots will only run a free rehearsal session over the weekend, on Friday morning, followed by classic qualifying in the afternoon to determine the starting grid for the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Saturday’s day will be dedicated to sprinting. The pilots will go out on track for a second qualifying session (called ‘Sprint Shootout‘), on the same model as Friday but shorter, which will determine the starting order for the sprint race that will be held on the same day.
The format that debuts in Bak will also be used in five other Grand Prix: Austria (July 2), Belgium (July 30), Qatar (October 8), United States (Austin, October 22) and Brazil (November 5).
Changes
This format change occurs two years after the arrival of sprint races in the premier class. Until now, on sprint weekends, the drivers competed for classic qualifications, that is, against the clock, on Friday, which defined the starting order of a 100-kilometre race on Saturday, which in turn defined the starting grid for the GP on Saturday. Sunday.
According to the FIA, the new format will “encourage the drivers to go full throttle on Saturday” as they were not used to taking all the risks during the sprint to secure their position on the grid for the main race.
The sprint race thus becomes an independent event whose results will have no consequences on the GP starting grid. The allocation of points at the end of the sprint does not change: only the first eight pilots will score points.
The weekend also had two free rehearsal sessions; the first (FP1) run on Friday before qualifying and the second (FP2) the following day before the sprint. If the first is maintained, the second disappears.
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