Revamped F1 sprint race format rubber-stamped for 2023

The rumours were true! F1 will introduce a new sprint race format at this weekend’s Azerbaijan GP, in the hope that drivers will now take more risks in the name of our entertainment.

This is how it’ll work: as before, qualifying as we know it takes place on Friday after a single practice session, but unlike before it now sets the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. Like, y’know, a normal race weekend.

That leaves the sprint race as its own standalone event on Saturday, with the grid for that set by a second, shorter qualifying session to be known as the Sprint Shootout.

It’ll follow the same three-session knockout structure of normal quali, except the drivers will have just 12, 10 and eight minutes respectively to set their lap times. Oh, and they’ll be codenamed SQ1, SQ2 (yep, like the Audi) and SQ3.

As per last season’s sprint races, points will be dished out to the top eight finishers, with the winner taking home eight points and P8 picking up one.

The changes were unanimously backed by the F1 Commission - which includes F1, the FIA and the teams - and then approved via e-vote by the World Motor Sport Council.

But, um, why change the format again? Two reasons, basically: one, kill off the largely pointless Saturday practice session (Haas team boss Guenther Steiner told TG this week he found it “boring”) with something that might not send fans to sleep.

And two, let the drivers off the leash. Under the old format, if you went for a gap but ended up in the gravel, you’d wreck your chances in the main race. Now, as its own Thing, bosses hope drivers will see fewer downsides to a late lunge down the apex…

Six grands prix will play host to the new sprint race format: after Baku this weekend, it’ll be deployed in Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the USA (COTA) and Brazil.