F1 Sprint Weekend has been a part of the pinnacle of motorsports for quite some time now. The different weekend format has made an appearance in the Brazilian GP recently, taking the tally of total races up to six this season. It was first introduced in 2021 as an answer to more races sought out by fans.
F1 Sprint Weekend, which was supposed to garner more attention and bring fans closer to sport, didn’t produce the desired results, however, causing a lot of disagreement. The F1 Sprint Weekend rules are also an annoyance to drivers throughout the weekend, putting F1 in a dilemma.
What is F1 Sprint Weekend?
According to F1 CEO Stephano Domenicalli, the decision was to “create a race weekend that includes three days of competitive racing action and brings more entertainment to fans of the sport” by including the F1 Sprint Weekend format. This was a bold declaration on behalf of F1, as they claimed to understand the expectations of fans.
The new addition in 2021, F1 Sprint Weekend, is a shorter racing format of approximately 100 km that puts drivers through situations that would take time to deliver during normal races. It features intense racing right from the lights out and the new race extends the F1 race weekend to three days. The sprint format has gone through various changes over the years.
Currently, the sprint weekend takes place over three days, giving teams only one free practice session and qualifying for the main race on Sunday. Saturday features a Sprint shootout, which lines up the grid for the Sprint race. The race results of this shorter race do not have any effect on final grid positions and the F1 Sprint Weekend gives drivers a second chance to deliver, earning some points in the chaos of shorter races.
What are the majors of F1’s Sprint Weekend in 2024?
F1 Sprint Weekend had undergone major changes with six races in the 2023 calendar; however, F1 seems to be unsatisfied with current predicaments and wants to modify the format even further.
There are a lot of plausible changes that could be brought about in 2024, but one specifically caught FIA’s attention. There is a huge gap between qualifying and Sunday’s race so it creates a kind of disconnect. To counter this, the FIA plans to shift the Sprint events. FIA plans to move Sprint Shootout to Friday evening after FP1 and get back qualifying to Saturday in it’s used time slot.
What are your thoughts about F1’s new addition to the sport? Do you think it has made the weekends more exciting? Let us know in the comments section.
