What is a sprint race in F1 and how does new qualifying shootout work?
F1 sprint has endured its biggest ever season this year with six sprint races on the calendar for 2023 - doubling the amount from 2022 and 2021.
The 100km Saturday dash, first introduced at the British Grand Prix in 2021, has proven popular with teams and fans alike and will be present at more than a quarter of Grand Prix weekends during the 23-race season.
There was an unanimous agreement to increase the number of sprint events amongst F1 teams at a meeting of the F1 commission meeting last year, following discussions with the FIA and a vote amongst the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC).
As it was last year, the F1 sprint is a 100km race with no mandatory pit stops and drivers racing flat-out to the chequered flag.
As it was in the 2022 season, the top eight drivers score points, with the driver who finishes P1 receiving eight points.
How does the sprint race work?
The F1 Commission and the FIA have approved new sprint weekend format changes which will see an extra qualifying session added to the schedule.
The new order of play sees a new ‘sprint shootout’ take place on Saturday morning instead of a second practice session, with traditional qualifying on Friday now setting the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.
It means there will be just one practice session over the course of the weekend, while Saturday is designated ‘sprint day’.
The result of the Saturday sprint – a 100km dash, roughly a third of the distance of the grand prix – will not impact the grid for Sunday, as opposed to the past two years. Points will be awarded to the top-eight, as was the case in 2022.
But now, that Friday qualifying session will take on added weight as it will set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix, regardless of what happens in Saturday’s sprint race.
On Saturday, instead of what was seen as a generally pointless second practice session on Saturday, a new ‘sprint shootout’ will take place to form the starting grid for the sprint race later in the day.
It will follow the same Q1-Q2-Q3 format but the session times will be shorter than traditional qualifying: SQ1 (medium tyres) will be 12 minutes, SQ2 (medium tyres) will be 10 minutes and SQ3 (soft tyres) will be eight minutes.
NEW SPRINT WEEKEND FORMAT
Friday: Free Practice 1; qualifying (for Sunday’s Grand Prix)
Saturday: Sprint qualifying; sprint race (Top-eight receive points, finish order will have no impact on Grand Prix grid)
Sunday: Grand Prix
How many points are on offer?
P1 - Eight points
P2 - Seven points
P3 - Six points
P4 - Five points
P5 - four points
P6 - three points
P7 - two points
P8 - one point
Where will the sprint races take place this season?
There have been four sprint races so far this season:
ROUND 4 - AZERBAIJAN
Baku City Circuit - 28-30 April
Sprint shootout pole: Charles Leclerc
Sprint race winner: Sergio Perez
ROUND 10 - AUSTRIA
Red Bull Ring, Spielberg - 30 June-2 July
Sprint shootout pole: Max Verstappen
Sprint race winner: Max Verstappen
ROUND 13 - BELGIUM
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - 28-30 July
Sprint shootout pole: Max Verstappen
Sprint race winner: Max Verstappen
ROUND 18 - QATAR
Lusail International Circuit, Lusail - 6-8 October
Sprint shootout pole: Oscar Piastri
Sprint race winner: Oscar Piastri
ROUND 19 - UNITED STATES
Circuit of the Americas, Austin - 20-22 October
ROUND 21 - BRAZIL
Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo - 3-5 November
