In a bid to add some spice to race weekends, Formula 1 introduced F1 Sprint in 2021 as a trial over 3 race weekends. The F1 Sprint is a 100 km race (1/3rd of the Grand Prix distance) and happens on a Saturday evening. Needless to say, the F1 sprint was largely successful as the short race attracted a lot of viewers, and also dared the Formula 1 drivers to drive more aggressively.
The F1 Sprint was technically a qualifying format still, and would set the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. Initially, F1 offered points only to the top 3 finishers, but that was revised in 2022 to offer points to the top 8, with 8 points going to the first place, 7 to the second, and so on. However, since the result of the race would form the starting grid of the Grand Prix - and with only a handful of points on offer - teams soon employed a more conservative approach to the F1 Sprint, which defeated its purpose.
This may change however, as rumours suggest that Formula 1 may be considering F1 Sprint to be a standalone event, which would have no impact on the Grand Prix. In such a situation, the qualifying that will be held on Friday afternoon of a sprint race weekend will form the Sunday’s grid, and there will be a “mini-qualifying” on Saturday before the F1 Sprint itself, which will determine the starting order of the Sprint race. With reduced time in qualifying, we may see a “one-lap qualifying” format employed for the mini-qualifying as well, or just a short 15 minute session where everyone will go out on the track simultaneously to try and snatch the ‘sprint pole’.
These remain rumours for now, but with the first F1 Sprint happening within a month’s time in Baku, we will find out if this actually takes place very soon! As it stands though, the sprint weekend format will see the first practice session on Friday morning followed by Qualifying on Friday afternoon, second practice session on Saturday morning followed by F1 Sprint on Saturday afternoon, and the Grand Prix itself on Sunday.
