There will be three Sprint Race events in the 2022 Formula One championship: this is the most important news after the proposal was agreed unanimously in a Formula 1 Commission meeting, which took place earlier today.
The venues for the thre sprint races have also been officially confirmed: the special format will be used in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit, in Austra at the Red Bull Ring and the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.
One major change is the fact that there will be an increase in the number of points awarded to the winner from three to eight. Points will also be awarded to the top eight finishers, rather than just the top three, and allocated in one-point increments. This means that a driver now has a total of 34 points maximum available for a Grand Prix weekend in case he will be able to win the Sprint Race, the main event on Sunday, while also scoring the fastest lap of the race.
The official name has also been changed from sprint qualifying to simply ‘sprint’ to point out the fact that the qualifying session will be held on the Friday of each race weekend. It also more accurately reflects the fact that the sprint is a race.
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It has also been confirmed that for statistical purposes the accolade of pole position will be awarded to the driver who sets the pace in the qualifying session. On two out of three occasions last year, this was a different driver to the one who won the sprint and therefore started the grand prix at the front.
The initial plan was for the sport to run six sprint events in 2022, as Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands should have also used this format. However, disputes regarding the the need to increase the cost cap allowance for taking part in these events, which the big teams wanted, in particular Red Bull, led to that plan being dropped.
A compromise for another season with three sprint events was eventually reached, entailing the extra cost cap allowance permitted last year, which gave teams an extra $450,000 to cover participating in the three sprint events, along with an allowance of up to $100,000 per sprint race for damage sustained.
An FIA statement said the changes came after a review of last year’s three sprint events, which were held at Silverstone, Monza and Interlagos.
“Following a review of the three sprint events that took place in 2021 and a recognition by all that the format created positive benefits for the sport, three sprint events were proposed for 2022, acknowledging this as a sensible number in light of the pressures already on the teams for this season with the introduction of major changes to the regulations,” the statement said.
“The commission unanimously approved the three Sprint events for the coming season, incorporating a number of updates to the format based on the feedback of fans, media and teams.”
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