Azerbaijan Grand Prix gets groundbreaking ‘sprint shootout’ on Saturday

An additional qualification instead of the second free practice. As expected, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will have a different setup to what we are used to in Formula 1. On Tuesday there was a unanimous vote for the arrival of a revolutionary sprint shootout vote. This season, six race weekends also include a 100 kilometer sprint race. So the first is next weekend in Baku. The others are in Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the United States (Austin) and Brazil.

The teams were unanimous in favor of the change. “That way there’s entertainment every day, Friday through Sunday,” he said in a statement. Additionally, riders can now ride freely in the sprint race, without having to worry about their starting position in the grand prix. That way everyone can give their all and that only adds to the tension.

Speed ​​race

Changes to the configuration of weekends with a sprint race have been announced for some time and are now final. Things will be completely different in Baku next weekend. The grand prix begins Friday with free practice and qualifying in the familiar format that determines the starting order for Sunday’s race.

Saturday will be sprint day and that’s where it’s revolutionary. An additional qualification takes place first, which determines the starting order for the sprint race. This qualification is called sprint shootout and it’s a shorter qualification than usual.

Q1 lasts 12 minutes and is mandatory on new medium tyres. The fifteen drivers who will go to Q2 will have 10 minutes there and will have to drive again with new medium tyres. The session for the ten fastest drivers only lasts 8 minutes and is mandatory on new soft tyres. This setup could ensure that there is only time for one last ditch attempt in Q3.

In the following 100 kilometer sprint race, 8 points are at stake for the winner, like last year. Numbers 2 to 8 always receive one less World Cup point.