The teams, along with Formula One Management and the governing FIA, have reached an agreement to reorganize the sessions on F1 sprint weekends in a tabloid format. Instead of the previous schedule, which included qualifying for the grand prix on Friday, the new format will have one free practice on Friday followed by a sprint qualifying ‘shootout’. Additionally, a 100km race will take place on Saturday morning before the main Sunday grand prix qualifying. These changes will be presented to the FIA’s World Motorsport Council on February 28 for official approval. The upcoming 24-race F1 season, beginning in Bahrain on March 2, will feature six scheduled sprint weekends. The grands prix weekends in China, Miami, Austria, the United States (Austin), Sao Paulo, and Qatar will implement the sprint format in 2024.
During the meeting in London, the Commission also agreed to increase the power unit allocation to four per driver for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Furthermore, there will be a modification to the activation of the drag reduction system (DRS) for the race. Instead of activating it two laps after the start, it will now be activated one lap after the start. The reporting on these developments was done by Alan Baldwin, with additional reporting from GrandPrix247.
