F1 | Here are the Sprint times: will it be a race against time?

The new Formula 1 season will be characterized by a record number of 24 Grands Prix, a figure never achieved before which confirms what a long and stressful championship it will be for the teams. Compared to 2023, the starting times have remained largely unchanged, with only small changes regarding the Miami event, which will start half an hour later, and the Qatar Grand Prix, which will start three hours later to counter the heat.

However, compared to the first table released last January, the starting times of the sprint races were missing as the definitive format had yet to be established by the F1 Commission. Already towards the end of 2023 the teams had met to find a different rationalization of the sprint format, trying to divide the day dedicated to short sessions in a more orderly manner compared to the rest of the ordinary weekend.

However, an agreement was only found in the last meeting on February 5th, in which it was decided to reorganize the weekend. Free practice 1 and the sprint shootout qualifying session will take place on Friday, but Saturday will change. In fact, on the morning of the second day of action on the track, the sprint race will take place, while on Saturday afternoon the drivers will return to the track for the qualifying of the 300 km Grand Prix, which remains as usual on Sunday.

In reality, other hypotheses had also been taken into consideration, including a scenario that involved FP1 on Friday followed by the sprint with an inverted grid for the top ten. However, the proposal did not pass and it was simply decided to reshuffle the order of the sessions, for which the times were also revealed. The Saturday morning sprint race will start four hours before the start of qualifying for the Grand Prix: for example, to have a reference with European times, the short race in Austria will start at midday, while the qualifying will take place at 4pm. It should be noted that, however, the day after the Grand Prix will normally start at 3pm, as in recent years.

The first sprint event will be in China towards the end of April, with the short race starting at 11am local time (5pm Italian time), while the flying lap tests for the Grand Prix will start at 3pm local time. The stage in Miami will then follow, while in the second half of the championship the same format will take place in Austin, Brazil and Qatar.

It is interesting to point out how the particular program of the American race could prove extremely useful in view of the race: for some seasons now, qualifying on Saturday afternoons has been held later than the starting time of the Grand Prix. This year too we will continue with the same methods, given that qualifying will start at 5pm on Saturday afternoon, while the race will start on Sunday at 2pm local time.

The start of the race

Photo by: Alfa Romeo

However, the fact that the sprint will now be held at 1pm local time could potentially represent an advantage for the teams who, barring significant and sudden changes from one day to the next, should be able to run in conditions similar to those that will then be found in the Gran Award. The data obtained on Saturday over the long distance could then prove particularly useful in defining the set-up for the 300 km race.

Among the reasons that pushed F1 to review the format there were also the changes to parc fermé. Last year, both teams and drivers complained about not being able to work on the cars, having to approve the setup after just one free practice session. If a team got the setup wrong for the sprint, the rest of the weekend was consequently compromised, unless they decided to make some adjustments starting from the pit lane, as done in the United States by Aston Martin and Haas.

Although all the details of this “small revolution” over the weekend have not yet been defined, the basic plan potentially includes two Parc Fermé periods: the first would cover the sprint events, while the second would start from qualifying on Saturday afternoon until to the race. Even if the final details have not yet been confirmed, the pilots welcomed this news, speaking about it on the sidelines of the presentations.

The garage of Esteban Ocon's Alpine A523

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

However, with only four hours between the morning sprint race and afternoon qualifying, it really risks being a race against time for the teams. It is clear that the teams will want to make the most of the data and analyzes carried out based on what was understood during the sprint, in order to have a useful reference for the race. With only one FP1 session on Friday, which is generally on a dirty track, we mostly tend to rely on the basic setups prepared in the factory before the weekend, making small changes based on what we discovered during free practice.

But given the opportunity to have a competitive session like the sprint available, i.e. around a third of the race, it is logical to assume that the teams will want to exploit the data from Saturday's race as much as possible to understand the behavior of the tires over the long distance. Not having the opportunity to try a long run in free practice one, the sprint presents itself as a perfect substitute, even if in most cases the starting time of the two sessions will be staggered by a couple of hours, except for Austin .

This will present a further challenge for the teams, especially for the track and factory staff, who will want to examine the data up to the last possible second before the start of the second Parc Fermé to make useful adjustments for qualifying and of the race. Furthermore, it will also be necessary to wait for the marshals to complete the technical regularity checks after the sprint before being able to intervene on the cars, in order to verify that the parc fermé has been respected during the short race.

Ferrari mechanics work on the chassis of Sainz's car

Photo by: Erik Junius

It is no coincidence that one of the concerns expressed by the stables is that, although favorable to this opening, the regulatory interventions could increase the workload for the staff.

A scenario that could get worse in the event of an accident in the sprint. Going back in time, during the sprints held up to this point, accidents have occurred which then required extensive work by the mechanics to replace the chassis and reassemble a good part of the car. Last year in Qatar Sergio Perez was forced to start the Grand Prix from the pit lane after a contact in the short run with Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg which forced the Red Bull mechanics to change the bodywork.

For this reason, a possible opening is being evaluated to give the teams the opportunity to have partly pre-assembled reserve frames to use on special occasions like these. However, these changes are still being discussed with the teams, the FIA ​​and Formula 1, who in the next meetings will also discuss other topics that have caused discussion in recent years, such as track limits.