A new sprint format for the return of the Chinese Grand Prix
For the return of the Shanghai track, the Chinese Grand Prix (April 19-21) will be the first sprint format of the season. In 2024, Formula 1 will test a new sprint format, which has long been requested by the teams.
The Chinese Grand Prix is back on the 2024 calendar. Formula 1 returns to the Chinese metropolis after five years without the Shanghai circuit. Since 2019, restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic have prevented the smooth running of this GP.
To mark the occasion, the F1 and FOM organizers have decided to offer the Chinese circuit the opportunity to witness the debut of the sprint format.
It is also a first for Guanyu Zhou who will experience the atmosphere of a race in his hometown for the first time in his Formula 1 career.
In total, there will be six sprint races in the season. After China, it’s Miami, Austria, Texas, Brazil, and Qatar that will have a sprint weekend.
A new sprint format.
On paper, an exciting race weekend awaits us. It should be noted, however, that teams have not raced in China since 2019, three years before the current technical regulations were introduced in F1. The teams have data available that is very dated, although most teams’ simulators are able to reproduce the circuit almost perfectly.
The Shanghai track is rarely used which could hinder the track’s development during race laps. However, work had nevertheless been done on the circuit.
The choice of the sprint race complicates the possibility of adaptation for the drivers who will only have one free practice session on Friday before participating in the Sprint qualifying session. Surprises are to be expected.
For the organization, it’s a free practice session on Friday morning, the Sprint qualifiers in the afternoon to determine the starting grid for Saturday morning’s sprint race. Then the qualifiers on Saturday afternoon which will determine the grid for Sunday’s race. There will therefore be only one free practice session, on a track where many unknowns arise.
In 2023, Formula 1 had dedicated an entire day to the sprint format with qualifying in the Saturday morning and the race in the afternoon. In case of issues during the sprint qualifying, the teams had very little time to repair the single-seater in order to participate in the race.
Another point to take into account: the weather. The first weather forecasts announce rain throughout the weekend. Just a reminder, it was Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes who won the GP in 2019, during the 1000th Formula 1 Grand Prix.
