There has been a conscious effort to promote the excitement in F1 ever since Liberty Media took over in 2017. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has helped introduce several new formats to help engage the fans more.
Among all the new introductions, the most interesting change has arguably been that of the sprint race format. During a sprint race weekend, all teams compete in two races instead of one. Drivers take part in a 100 km dash on Saturday to decide the grid for Sunday’s main race.
Despite all the massive changes that have occurred, it seems that F1 is yet keen to introduce more. One of them is an extra qualifying session for a sprint race weekend, an idea that has also intrigued seven-time Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton. The Briton’s recent remarks come despite having criticized the sprint race format before.
‘We constantly need to be evolving’: Lewis Hamilton
Speaking of the proposed changes, Lewis Hamilton said (as quoted by speedcafe.com), “I do think we constantly need to be evolving and assessing what we’re doing.” He added that the proposed changes to the sprint races are ‘positive’ in some places.
He also added that he is open to having more discussions to make the sport ‘more inclusive and more engaging for the fans”. The 38-year-old said that he likes the idea of having an extra qualifying session as this is ‘always super fun”.
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What are the proposed changes for an F1 sprint race weekend?
According to speedcafe.com, all 10 F1 team principals took part in a meeting on Sunday morning ahead of the Australian Grand Prix a weekend ago. During this meeting, the team principals discussed potentially introducing a new format for the sprint race weekend.
If the changes are approved by the F1 Commission and the World Motorsport Council, then the new format will feature two qualifying sessions for a sprint race weekend instead of one. The qualifying session on Friday will decide the grid for Sunday’s main race instead of the sprint race.
Meanwhile, Saturday will feature an extra qualifying session to decide the sprint race’s grid. If these changes are approved before the end of this month, then these changes could also be seen at the Azerbaijan GP for the first of the six sprint races. The race in Baku will take place from April 28 to 30.
