After three seasons with the Sprint format in some Grand Prix races, the concept continues to be subject to adjustments. Recently, the rounds with Sprint for next year were announced – with the debuts of China and Miami – and the changes may extend to inverted starting grids.
The F1 Commission recently determined that the concept will undergo modifications next year, although it did not specify which ones. In particular, there will be a more logical sequencing of the various sessions. A meeting in January will discuss further proposals, and one of them could be the inversion of the starting grids for the Sprint races – according to Auto Motor und Sport.
However, if the Sprint Shootout – the qualification for the Sprint race – remains, a grid inversion could make it less appealing to achieve the best results. As a countermeasure in this scenario, points could be awarded to the top finishers of the Sprint Shootout. However, there is still a lot of resistance from the teams, so inverted grids are possible but unlikely for the next season.
