After the consolidation of the concept in 2023, Sprint races may have a renewed format in the next Formula 1 season. This year already had significant changes, expanding from three to six rounds, in addition to gaining its own qualifying session – the Sprint Shootout.
According to Motorsport.com, there are ideas on the table for new changes – mainly because the current concept can create some confusion by having the qualifying for the main race on Friday, followed by a Saturday with the Sprint Shootout and the Sprint race. On the other hand, right after qualifying on Friday, the cars enter closed park conditions, preventing certain changes after just one practice and one qualifying session.
One of the suggestions is to hold the Sprint Shootout on Friday afternoon, the Sprint race on Saturday morning, and the qualifying session on the same day in the afternoon as usual. This way, the closed park condition could be suspended after the Sprint race and before qualifying.
Toto Wolff, the executive director and team principal of Mercedes, argued to Sky Sports F1 that with this format, the Sprint rounds would be easier to understand: ‘We have been talking to Stefano [Domenicali, President and CEO of F1]. It is obviously his decision, but this way you can correlate more easily. You do the Sprint Shootout [on Friday], and then a second qualifying session for the race on Saturday, 2:00 PM is the time we know. And that might create less confusion’.
From a more technical point of view, Ferrari’s sporting director, Diogo Ioverno, commented: ‘If you move the Sprint race to Saturday morning, then you ensure that you give the teams enough margin to react for qualifying in case of problems. There are also other opinions on the table. There is still no definitive proposal, but our goal will be that when the FIA and F1 decide on the format, the teams will have to work together to make it good for the spectators and good for us, because it is complicated’.
