According to Frédéric Vasseur, all teams agree to change the format of sprint races
The new sprint race weekend format, advocated by Stefano Domenicali, has been approved by the F1 teams.
Starting from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which will take place from April 28th to 30th and will host the first sprint race of the season, a new weekend format could emerge. This season, six sprint races are scheduled: Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, United States (Austin), and Brazil. Sprint races made their debut in 2021. Being shorter in distance compared to the main Sunday race, the sprint race determines the starting grid for the Sunday event.
Until now, the schedule for a sprint race weekend was organized as follows: a free practice session on Friday morning followed by qualifications in the afternoon, another free practice session on Saturday morning, the sprint race a few hours later, and finally the Grand Prix on Sunday.
In his perpetual quest for spectacle, the boss of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali, would like to reduce the number of free practice sessions in order to bring more stakes to the different sessions of the weekend. To achieve this, the Italian leader wishes to implement a new format for sprint race weekends, here are the details:
– Friday morning: a free practice session.
Friday afternoon: qualifying session to determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race.
Saturday morning: sprint race qualifying session
Saturday afternoon: sprint race
Sunday: main race of the weekend.
The Saturday would thus be completely dedicated to the sprint race, while the details of the second qualifying session are still to be determined.
According to Frédéric Vasseur, the boss of Ferrari, all teams without exception are enthusiastic about these changes. For once, all the teams are aligned. This doesn’t happen often, so we must take advantage of it. Replacing a free practice session with qualifying makes the format more dynamic. You may ask us why we decided on this so late, but in the end, we all agree to push for it.
One of the criticisms often made of sprint races since their introduction in 2021 is the lack of interest in the Saturday morning free practice sessions. With the qualifying already done and the teams having already adjusted their cars for the rest of the weekend, this is one of the reasons for Vasseur’s positive reception of the new format.
« I’m not a big fan of this second free practice session. It can be quite boring. Not for us, as we gather a lot of data, but for the spectators. If you don’t know the fuel level or the engine mode being used, it’s a bit tedious. »
To justify his words, the Frenchman does not hesitate to draw a parallel with another sport. « Trying to make weekends more dynamic is a good decision. If you compare it to football, no one watches Wednesday’s training session. We are probably the only sport that broadcasts training sessions. »
