The Sprint Qualifications will not influence the outcome of the championship
The F1 sporting director, Ross Brawn, assured that the third and final Sprint Qualifying will be organized early enough so as not to influence the outcome of the championship.
This year, Formula 1 will introduce a new qualifying format to increase surprises on the starting grid. This format, which will be inaugurated at the British Grand Prix next week, will take the form of a 100-kilometer race. Two weekends are already scheduled with this new format: Silverstone and Monza. However, a third event should also be affected, but it has not yet been revealed.
The third race that should host the Sprint Qualifying should take place outside Europe. However, one thing is certain, it will not be in Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia. The reason? This format awards points to the top three finishers of the race (3, 2, and 1 respectively). With this new points system, there is a risk of seeing a driver crowned on Saturday rather than during the main race on Sunday. To avoid this possibility, Ross Brawn ensures that F1 officials will prioritize an event outside Europe, in the month of October.
We do not want to organize the third Sprint Qualifying at the end of the season. We don’t want the championship to be decided on a Saturday afternoon, we want to avoid that. But honestly, I think there are opportunities at the end of the European season to avoid the last two races of the season, he told our colleagues at Motorsport.com.
Since the announcement of this new format, a rumor has been circulating that the Brazilian Grand Prix could host the third Qualifying Sprint of the year. However, the situation is far from ideal in this country. F1 leaders could then organize it in the United States.
As we all know, we had to be quite flexible this year with the impact of COVID-19. That is why, especially because it is a race far from Europe that will take place in a few months, we have decided to wait for the situation to clear up a bit, said Ross Brawn.
» We do not have a plan A on this subject yet, so I think it is a little premature to assume what race it could be. We are completely open on the third race for now, we are looking at all options. We do not want to make a decision that will need to be changed after a few weeks, so there is no rush. And I also think we will learn some things after the Silverstone weekend, how the package works and how good it is. And that could have an impact on our decision.
