After talks held regarding possible changes for the Sprint race weekends, the Formula 1 teams have reached an agreement on amendments to the first Sprint race weekend of the 2023 Formula 1 season, which will take place in Azerbaijan after a three-week break.
Ahead of the Melbourne weekend, it was revealed that talks were taking place to make several key changes in terms of schedule for the Baku event, which is the first Sprint race weekend of the 2023 Formula 1 campaign.
The current Sprint weekend format, that has been used since it’s inception, is based on a first free practice session on Friday, followed by the qualifying session on Friday afternoon. The second day of track actions begins with the second free practice session and is followed by the Sprint, while the main event takes place on Sunday afternoon, as in any race weekend.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner pointed out that such a format is not ideal for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a race that has gained a reputation for holding races of attrition.
As a result, it seems that all Formula One teams have agreed to change the structure of the format and have two qualifying sessions.
Based on the new idea, the second free practice session, which was initially scheduled for Saturday morning would be replaced by a new qualifying session for the Sprint race, while the Friday qualifying session would still take place, but the results would determine the starting grid for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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Another key target is to avoid running FP2, which is seen as rather pointless given the current format, as teams are not able to perform any changes or have significant gains in terms of data collected, owing to the parc fermé conditions from Friday afternoon’s qualifying.
Formula 1 teams mutually agreed
Formula 1 team principal met together ahead of the Melbourne race last weekend to evaluate the best possible changes in terms of schedule for the Baku weekend.
During the discussions, there was a suggestion to test a special qualifying format for the Sprint event, with all drivers having just one fast lap, as was the case in the past, but this plan has been rejected by some teams.
However, if the changes will be confirmed, qualifying for the Sprint event will take place on Saturday and will be run based on the same format as the usual qualifying session (with a Q1, Q2 and Q3), yet the sessions could be shorter than qualifying on Friday, due to the potential shortage of Pirelli tyres and to avoid stress on important components such as the engine parts, especially taking into consideration the budget cap rules, as many teams choose to limit the power of the engine during the normal free practice sessions.
The fact that the teams agree to these changes, however, does not necessarily mean that the plan will indeed be implemented when the sport resumes after the three-week break at the Baky City Circuit in Azerbaijan. Formula 1 chief executive officer Stefano Domenicali, who put the idea on the table in the last few weeks, still has to accept any other small changes that the teams ask for.
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