Sprint format for the Austrian Grand Prix: what you need to know
With all the different formats in Formula 1 - race, free practice, qualifying, Sprint, etc. - it's pretty easy to get lost over the weekend. Here's what you need to remember about this weekend's Sprint format.
This year again, Formula 1 has six Sprint races during the season. After Shanghai and Miami, the Austrian Sprint is therefore the third of this year. With many different formats, this race can sometimes be hard to understand, yet it is not so different from a traditional race.
Generally, the first two days of a race weekend are largely made up of practice sessions that are not always interesting for those present on site. To address this issue, the FIA has decided to introduce a second, smaller race to bring more action during the weekend.
The unfolding of the weekend
Where in a classic race weekend there would be three free practice sessions, in a Sprint weekend, two free practice sessions are removed. There is less training time for the teams, but this change is necessary to fit the format during the weekend. No free practices to report this Saturday, nor this Friday afternoon.
In terms of rules, the Sprint is almost similar to a Grand Prix. Obviously, drivers and teams are required to comply with the regulations established by the FIA for the race, but we can still notice some differences.
First, the Sprint race is shorter than a classic race. Where normally the grid must cover a little over 300km, for a Sprint, we limit ourselves to about 100km. The event is therefore shorter, with around 30 minutes of racing. Secondly, only the top eight drivers earn points, with an increase of 1 point for each position gained, up to a maximum of 8. There is no Driver of the Day in the Sprint race, so no extra points to be won. Finally, since the stage is quite short and usually consists of three times fewer laps, a pit stop is not mandatory for single-seaters, although they can make one if they wish.
Apart from these few changes, the Sprint race follows the same principles as the classic Sunday race. Just like the Grand Prix, the sprint race has a qualifying session which is organized exactly like the classic qualifications. Namely Q1, Q2, Q3 and 5 eliminated in the first two sessions. Then, a final session will determine the ranking of the remaining 10 cars on the grid.
A few Sprint races this year
The choice of locations where Sprints are held depends on the circuit on which they will take place. Some circuits are not suitable for the format. With its numerous straight lines and large DRS zones, the Red Bull Ring promises an interesting Sprint in terms of the number of overtakings.
The circuits chosen for Sprint races are less likely to damage the car than others. Up until last year, the entire Saturday was dedicated to the sprint format (qualifying and race), but a new schedule has been introduced this year. Qualifying and the race take place over two days to allow teams to repair their cars in case of any issues.
The Sprint format is still new, but the FIA wants to evolve it to make it more and more interesting. The advantage of this format is that it remains quite similar to the classic format so it is still quite understandable even for less devoted fans.
