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Formula 1 stakeholders have unanimously agreed to change the format of sprint weekends to separate the Saturday race from the rest of the event.
The first two seasons of the experimental sprint format featured three events in which a short Saturday race set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.
F1 decided after feedback from fans, broadcasters and event promoters to increase the number of sprint weekends to six in 2023.
Ahead of the first sprint event of the season in Azerbaijan, a late vote of the F1 Commission on Tuesday rubber-stamped changes with the intention of encouraging drivers to race harder in the sprint itself.
New sprint weekend format:
Friday: FP1 and qualifying for the grand prix
Saturday (‘Sprint day’): Sprint shootout and sprint race
Sunday: Grand prix
As previously, Friday will feature a single one-hour practice session and a qualifying session.
However, that qualifying session will now set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.
On Saturday, which F1 is calling ‘sprint day’, there will be a shorter qualifying session called the ‘sprint shootout’ using the current Q1-Q2-Q3 format.
It will last roughly 45 minutes in total, with shorter segments than full qualifying and two different mandated tyre compounds across the three sessions.
Sprint shootout format:
Q1: 12 minutes, Medium tyres
Q2: 10 minutes, Medium tyres
Q3: 8 minutes, Soft tyres
This will give drivers fewer laps, increasing the jeopardy, with Q3 likely to only feature one run.
The sprint qualifying session sets the grid for the sprint race itself, which now only awards points – eight for the winner down to one point for eighth – and has no bearing on Sunday’s grid.
The grand prix will continue to be the only race on Sunday.
