F1 News: Sprint Format With Final Changes To Be Proposed For 2024 Season
The Sprint race format has received criticism from several team bosses and drivers like Max Verstappen. So, taking into account the feedback received to make it more interesting, three changes are proposed to the current format, which will be submitted to the F1 commission.
Sprint races in Formula 1 have undergone numerous changes since their introduction in 2021, and the evolution persists as efforts are made to enhance their excitement, shifting away from being merely a prelude to the main race on Sunday.
The initial suggestion is to allocate the entire Friday schedule to the Sprint format. This entails conducting Sprint qualifying in the morning, followed by the Sprint race in the afternoon. In the previous year, this was shifted to Saturday, but there is a proposal to move it back a day to enhance the format.
In addition, drivers and teams expressed discontent in 2023, asserting that a single practice session on Friday is inadequate for properly configuring the car for the entire weekend since cars enter parc ferme conditions at the commencement of Friday's qualifying session. Discussions are reportedly underway regarding potential modifications to the parc ferme rules before a change is proposed.
Lastly, it is being considered to introduce reverse grids to the Sprint format, perhaps even partial reverse grids. However, ongoing discussions are exploring the feasibility and effective implementation of such a proposal which, according to Mercedes driver George Russell, "won't work".
However, the latest individual to commend the Sprint format is the former Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner. Speaking at the Autosport International Show, he said:
“I would keep sprint races.
“If the qualifying changes a little bit around, it could be one of the ideas.
“But in general, it gives interest to the calendar because if there are 24 races on the calendar and you change a little bit around, it’s nice. Otherwise, it’s always the same.
“People may go ‘Oh there’s another race, there’s another race’ but now it’s like ‘Oh, there’s a sprint race and then it’s a normal race.’
“You get the historic races: Monza, Silverstone, and then you get Miami, Las Vegas, and these kinds of races.
“So I think the variety of how the races are gone and that includes sprint races, it’s actually a pretty good 24-race calendar.”
