New format for sprint races could be introduced as early as Baku'

Formula 1 may try out a completely new format with qualifying around a sprint race. This could be done for the first time as early as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Sprint race Saturday

Sprint races have been one of the biggest new additions to the format of race weekends over the past few years. The new races were first added to Formula 1 in 2021 to replace traditional qualifying. The aim was to make qualifying more exciting, but the first year already showed that it had not succeeded: drivers largely avoided duelling on track to avoid getting damaged. To prevent this, a new points system was introduced for the sprint race in 2022 to entice drivers more into on-track duels.

So now, yet another step would be taken to improve sprint races. In this new format, sprint races would be separate from the regular race. Saturday would then be entirely dedicated to the sprint race: qualifying in the morning, and then the sprint race in the afternoon. However, the result of the sprint race will no longer affect the starting grid for Sunday's race. Instead, this starting grid will be determined by a traditional qualifying session, which will then be held on Friday afternoon. This way, drivers would have more room to duel in the sprint, as it would not negatively affect the race on Sunday. The first weekend using this format would be the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as that is the first time a sprint race will be held this season.

Red Bull open to the adjustment

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner confirmed in the press conference that this format is being discussed. "We are currently talking about adding a second qualifying session to the sprint race," Steiner acknowledged. "But we don't yet know how and when." Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner added: "Hopefully we can tidy up the format of the sprint weekends a bit. I know that is being worked hard on, so hopefully, we can finalise that soon."

Red Bull Racing consultant Helmut Marko tells ServusTV that he and the team are open to this new change. "We even set [a second qualifying] as a requirement last year," reports the Austrian. "With two qualifying sessions, you can take more risk in the sprint, and then the race becomes more exciting. Saturday's practice was useless anyway. But if that now becomes a qualifying session, Saturday will be a lot better. And then on Sunday, you start with the results of the real qualifying. So it gets better across the board."