This is how the new Baku F1 GP sprint weekend works: schedule and how it works

This weekend at F1 Baku GPThe Formula 1 premieres new sprint weekend format, with a very important change, and that will be repeated in another 5 events in the same season. Why are these changes being applied? How does the new format work? What does this novelty mean for the sprint weekend? All the answers to your questions, in this article.

What are the differences between the old format and the new one?

This is the old format:

• On Friday there was Free Practice 1 and qualifying. The ‘qualy’ served to order the starting grid for Saturday’s sprint race.
• On Saturday there was Free Practice 2 and a sprint race. The final order of the race served to establish the grid for Sunday.
• On Sunday, long race.

the new format

Here are the new sprint weekends:

This is the new weekend format for the sprint with changes to apply: There will be 2 classifications and on Saturday, the sprint day, it will be independent of what happens the rest of the weekend.

• Friday: Free Practice 1 and qualifying. The qualy will be Q1, Q2 and Q3 and will dictate the starting positions for Sunday’s race.
• Saturday: Classification ‘shoot-out’ and sprint race on Saturday.

Saturday will be an independent day, because whatever happens, the starting order of Sunday’s race will not change in relation to the positions obtained in the ‘qualy’ on Friday. The ‘shoot-out’ classification will be shorter, also from Q1, Q2 and Q3, and will only serve to establish the starting order for Saturday’s sprint race. Saturday’s sprint race will award 8 points to 1st, 7 to 2nd and so on to 8th, which will earn 1 point. And on the same Saturday that the sprint race will be held, about 100 km and about 30 minutes long.

• Sunday: Race. It will be as usual and 25 points will be distributed for the winner and 1 point for the fastest lap if it stays in the Top-10, with the same scoring system as in all races. The starting grid order will no longer be determined by Friday’s qualifying.

New schedules (Spanish peninsular time)

• Friday: Free Practice 1: 11.30-12.30 Qualification: 15.00-16.00
• Saturday: Sprint shoot-out classification: 10:30-11:00 amSprint race: 3:30 p.m (About 100 km, more or less, 30 min.)
• Sunday: Race: 1:00 p.m

How many points is a sprint race awarded?

As in the previous format, Saturday’s sprint race will award 8 points for 1st, 7 to 2nd, 6 to 3rd, 5 to 4th, 4 to 5th, 3 to 6th, 2 to 7th and 1 to 8th. From the 9th onwards they will be left without a prize.

And we repeat: the final sprint race position will not change the grid position for Sunday’s race. In the sprint race, the only prize is points and places are no longer won or lost for Sunday’s appointment.

What is F1 chasing in this format?

F1 was introduced in the last campaigns as an experiment with several weekends with sprint races to make each day of the Grand Prix something at stake. This way, they attract more audiences on Friday and Saturday, and in turn, increase television audiences on those two days.

And if that’s not enough, F1 wants to reduce free practice as much as possible, where teams can test their cars and draw conclusions for ‘qualification’ and the race. Less training time should mean a bigger challenge for everyone: they should come with less certainty and more doubts about ‘qualification’ and the race and it could mean a greater possibility of surprises and lack of certainty

On a normal weekend, Free Practice and Free 2 are held on Friday, with nothing at stake, and on Saturday, Free Practice 3 before qualifying. That means that until Saturday’s classification, the competitive tension is void. That’s what F1 wants to change, at the moment, with 6 sprint weekends throughout the year with possibly more in the near future.

Why was the weekend format changed to sprint?

After trying the experimental sprint racing format in recent campaigns, F1 wants to change that format to increase the excitement it wants for this type of weekend.

Sprint racing came to F1 to add action and each day of the Grand Prix has a real impact on what happens over the weekend, leaving the Friday practice days. In the previous format though, F1 found that some drivers and teams were conservative in sprint races so as not to lose many positions at the front of the starting grid on Sunday. In the first year, points were awarded only for the top 3 of the sprint races. Last year points were awarded to the top 8 so there was more action on the track.

However, the drivers are still conservative as in the previous sprint format, their finishing position in the sprint race marks their starting position for Sunday’s race. An accident caused you to start from behind on Sunday and no one wants to take more chances than they have to. Now, Saturday’s race will not include Sunday’s grid and that should add to the action: more risk, more catch up, that everything will go to the maximum from the beginning.

However, we need to see if teams increase their risk. F1 is handing out more money to teams this year to deal with potential accidents in sprint races. But be careful, because each team has a certain number of pieces in each GP, which are physically available on the track, so they can continue to be conservative to avoid breaking them and having to redo them, at the time it is needed.

Why was the Free 2 session removed from the previous format?

The previous Free Practice 2 on Saturday morning was futile. . Also, configuration changes cannot be applied to their vehicles, so this practical session is irrelevant.

so, F1 has decided to remove these 2 Free Practices and the new sprint weekend will only have a few Free Practices to test, something that gives teams less time to draw conclusions and opens a window of opportunities for more unexpected things to happen.

What will be qualifying for the sprint race?

Qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race will be shorter, with a reduced format of Q1, Q2 and Q3:

• SQ1: 12 minutes long. L20 pilots will search for an hour. The first 15 will advance to the round. Mandatory to use medium tires.
• SQ2: 10 minutes. The top 10 will advance to the next round. Mandatory to use medium tires.
• SQ3: 8 minutes. The top 10 will play for pole for the subsequent sprint race on the same Saturday. soft tires

number of wheels

F1 established that each driver has 2 sets of hard tires, 4 medium and 6 sets of soft tires. Among them, 3 sets of tires must be used in the sprint qualy: In the sprint classification they must use the medium in SQ1 and SQ2 and the soft in SQ3.

How will penalties be applied?

Another important point to consider is the penalties. How are they applied? We explain them below:

• Penalties imposed on Friday for offenses committed on Friday: These will be applied to the grid for Sunday’s race.
• Penalty for changing elements: Will put it on the grill on Sunday.
• Penalty for violating Saturday’s short qualifying: This will apply for the sprint race.
• The cars will go to the parc fermé after the ‘qualy’ on Friday. Anyone who skips that closed park will start in the pit lane in both races, in the sprint and on Sunday.

Less testing… and the evolutions?

The new sprint weekend format will have only one free practice session (FP1). but, these types of events would not be good for teams to bring new development car parts to the track. To bring in new parts, it is best to have several sessions to test them and draw many conclusions while the team configures the car for the race. In addition, sprint races are not the right place for new parts, because they any touch in Saturday’s sprint race could ruin any upgrade that just came out of the factory. Few risk releasing good things in this type of GGPP.