How the F1 Sprint Will Shake Things Up This Weekend

Formula One is trying many new things to make the sport more competitive and exciting to watch. Amongst the new cap on spending, new car regulations next season, and different tires is a new way to look at qualifying. This weekend at Silverstone Formula One will be introducing what they have dubbed to be the F1 sprint. This is the first of three races the F1 Sprint will be taking action. So what can we expect from the new qualifying structure?

What is F1 Sprint?

F1 Sprint is essentially a new way of qualifying that Formula One is testing. It has completely shaken up the structure of the weekend and will go like this.

Friday – FP1, and Sprint qualifying with Q1, Q2, Q3 structure.

Saturday – FP2, Sprint Race

Sunday – Grand Prix

Now that we see just how it shakes up the structure of the day-to-day activities what exactly is the F1 Sprint? The sprint is a 17 lap race that is the deciding factor of how the grid will start the Grand Prix and who’s awarded pole. Additionally, the top 3 finishers of the sprint will receive 3, 2, 1 points towards the championship respectfully. The trick here is the drivers are not allowed to pit during the F1 Sprint. The teams are allowed to pick any tires they want for the race as well.

So How Does the F1 Sprint Effect Teams?

The F1 Sprint is hopefully and should be filled with lots of drama especially since there are no pitstops allowed. The biggest teams affected by this are the mid-pack teams. This could possibly eliminate the chances of a team like AlphaTauri or Williams get higher up on the grid by performing one outstanding lap. On the other side of things, the top teams should be able to compete harder think the names such as Lewis Hamilton who last race weekend he only managed to get P4 due to a rough qualifying. Here someone like Hamilton can find themselves having a better fight against Max Verstappen.

Is This The Future Of Qualifying?

We don’t know for sure if we will see this in later seasons which is why they are testing it now. This is the first time we will see this format and we will see it twice more later in the season. If it is deemed the right way to go then we will see it more and if all goes well this weekend maybe we’ll see more sooner rather than later. We know one thing for sure and it’s that this new format makes for a more action-packed weekend with plenty more tension and racing.