Paris (AFP)
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced on Tuesday that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fourth round of the Formula 1 World Championship on Sunday, will see a new system for (short) sprint races with more qualifying experiences in return for reducing the number of free trials.
“This will enhance the spectacle of the sprint weekend and bring more excitement to the circuit for fans around the world,” the FIA said in a joint statement with the American company “Liberty Media”, which owns the commercial rights to the world championship, ahead of organizing the first sprint race of the season. .
In addition to Azerbaijan, where the race takes place in the streets of Baku, sprint races will be approved during five other major awards, which are Austria (July 2), Belgium (July 30), Qatar (October 8), the United States (Austin, October 22) and Brazil (November 5).
According to the new system, drivers will only participate in one free practice period during the weekend (Friday), followed by a first “classic” afternoon qualifying period, to determine the starting positions during Sunday’s race.
Saturday will be dedicated to the sprint race, with the drivers entering a second period of qualifying experiences that will be called “Sprint Shootout” according to the same system as Friday’s trials, but shorter, provided that the starting order of the sprint race held on the same day is determined.
According to the previous system, during the weekends that include sprint races, the drivers were involved in classic qualifying experiences, that is, Friday time trials, which determined the starting order in the sprint race (100 km) on Saturday, which in turn determined the starting grid for the Sunday race.
The FIA said the new system would provide “more risks” thanks to reduced free practice times and would encourage drivers to adopt fast driving on Saturdays, noting that drivers do not take much risk during a sprint race in order to secure their position on the starting line for Sunday’s race.
On the other hand, the points award table has not changed at the end of the sprint race, as only the first 8 drivers will score points in the world championship standings table.
This change comes two years after the decision to organize sprint races during some rounds, which aim to provide more show and excitement during the three-day grand prizes.
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