Mercedes identifies the opportunities and pitfalls of the new F1 sprint format

Formula 1 is implementing a modified version of the sprint qualifying format for this weekend’s race in Azerbaijan, which will include a “Sprint Shootout” on Saturday.

The changes to the format are an attempt to completely separate the Sprint race from the rest of the Grand Prix weekend, with Friday being dedicated to practice and qualifying for the Sunday race, and Saturday essentially becoming an independent day with a shortened qualifying session before the Sprint.

The qualifying session for the Sprint race will be divided into three parts, just like in regular qualifications, but the three sections will respectively last 12 minutes, 10 minutes, and 8 minutes.

With this new dynamic to expect in the streets of Baku, Mercedes has given a glimpse of the different mindset that the teams will have to bring with them for Saturday’s action.

New scenarios on track

« The drivers will go straight into a qualifying session on Saturday, which is very unusual, explained Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director at Mercedes. Tire warm-up will be a point to watch for the teams. The engineer: « It’s difficult to expect the drivers to immediately deliver a performance on one lap, so I believe everyone will do runs on multiple laps. The medium tire can handle several laps, but without having multiple sets of tires available, there is a higher chance of being unlucky with a red flag, for example. I think everyone will go out on track and try to do some laps. »

For Ron Meadows, sporting director of Mercedes, this new format will not cause massive changes in terms of personnel operations within the Silver Arrows garage. However, this new formula, which includes additional sessions that require drivers to attack at 100%, may pose the risk of an accident since every lap counts to progress to the next stage.

One training session to prepare for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

On Saturday becoming a standalone day, the result of the Sprint no longer being relevant to determine the starting order of the Grand Prix, this means that teams must complete all their preparation for the Sunday race during the single Friday practice session. All the other sessions now having a competitive element.

Therefore, Mercedes has identified a significant obstacle that each team will have to keep in mind in order to ensure the best possible preparation. When you only have FP1, it is practically impossible to condense all the usual learnings from Friday and Saturday into one session, stated Shovlin. We lose the opportunity to focus on the long term and it is necessary to reflect on the real priorities.

Meadows agrees with his colleague, stating that the changes will likely result in a very busy track for the entire FP1. It will be very difficult for the engineers and drivers to find the optimal setup both for qualifying and for fuel settings during the race, he said.