F1 makes changes to the sprint format

Rumors have been going around since the beginning of the season. Finally, Formula 1 has made it official: the sprint format has been modified with the new changes effective from the weekend’s event in Baku back in April. Since its introduction in 2021, the shorter Saturday races and the new program have been the subject of much criticism but have also gained high praise for increasing the excitement of the weekends, with more points at stake with a short race in which anything goes. But like any novelty, you always have to allow room for error, and, in these two years, the format has been modified on several occasions to satisfy the entire World Cup grid. They focused primarily on the points distribution system (with points awarded to the top eight drivers instead of just the top three), and now it’s time for a new reorganization of the sprint weekend.

F1 Sprint format for the 2023 Austrian GP

Friday 30 June

Saturday 1 July

Sunday 2 July

Based on the surfacing rumors, Teams and drivers have voiced their opinions over the past season. And, if they agreed on one thing, it was the approval of the reduction of free practice sessions during the weekends. The decision has not been long in coming, and the FIA World Council has approved the change after a three-week hiatus (due to the cancellation of the Chinese GP) - just before the Azerbaijan GP. So it’s been confirmed that there will be one only practice session during the sprint weekends (one hour, as usual, on a Friday) - while a new qualifying session for the sprint event has replaced the Saturday session.

Friday’s practice session will decide the grid for Sunday’s race; the modification comes on Saturday with a day dedicated solely to the sprint event. The top eight finishers in the sprint will score points, from eight for first place down to one for eighth. The old Saturday practice will be replaced with another classification (11:30) which, in this case, will mark the starting positions for the sprint that same afternoon (15:30). This new qualifying session will be called Sprint Shootout and will also be divided into three heats: a 12-minute Q1 on medium tires, a 10-minute Q2 (also on medium) and an 8-minute Q3 minutes with soft. In this way, the sprint will not determine the starting order for Sunday.

The changes came about after F1 sought feedback from fans, television broadcasters, and the teams themselves to resolve the problem of drivers being conservative in the sprint not to harm their position on the grid on Sunday. It will be the first time a sprint has been held on an urban circuit, which hasn’t pleased some world championship teams, such as Aston Martin, who have expressed concerns about the budget limit since that costs could skyrocket in the event of accidents.

2023 F1 sprint dates