Not qualifying, but the sprint race counts as pole during Grand Prix

At the British Grand Prix we will see a sprint race for the first time in Formula 1. Although we still have qualifying on Friday afternoon, the sprint race counts as pole for the drivers.

In 2021, Formula 1 wants to try something new in terms of race format, and it will do so with sprint races. In Great Britain, during the Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit, the first test takes place. Ross Brawn however has less good news for the fans of one-lap qualifying.

Sprint race as pole in F1

''I should probably correct something of what I said earlier because initially, we thought it would still be about Friday qualifying. In fact, after talking to the FIA, they think that pole position is the guy at the front of the grid of the Grand Prix. So it's the person who finishes first in the sprint race. That's the one who is at the front of the grid and has pole position for the race, the Grand Prix, on a Sunday. And that's what we will count for the number of poles,'' the F1 chief told Motorsport.com.

''We're trying to give it a bit of a fresh touch. So that there is a shorter time before they go onto the grid. There will be no driver parade, but there will be opportunities on the grid to interview the drivers. It will be more like qualifying because we want to keep the podium for the big event of the weekend. We'll just keep that, but there are some fresh things we're doing with the sprint, which I think will be fun to try'', Brawn concludes.