Baku sees a new format for the race weekend! It will include two qualifying sessions, one of them with completely new rules

What was discussed in early April is now becoming a reality. In Baku, fans will see two qualifiers, one on Friday and one on Saturday. One of the goals was to eliminate the second practice session during the sprint format of the race weekend.

Formula 1 has confirmed the change to the sprint race weekend format. Now, when there is a grand prix that includes a 100km sprint, there will be no Saturday free practice. For the first time, drivers and teams will try this new feature in Baku.

Instead, they will all ride a qualifying session on Saturday, which will determine the starting order for the subsequent sprint. But why the change? Firstly, the new format of the sprint race weekend will bring a little more attraction again.

Because until now, Saturday’s small race determined the grid position for Sunday’s grand prix. So we could and should see more battles on the track, more determination to fight for points and, in short, a lot more racing.

The second goal was to eliminate the otherwise unnecessary second free practice session. This is because teams are limited in what they can do with their car because of the parc fermé rule from Friday’s qualifying.

A new format for the race weekend?

So what does the new format look like, but it has yet to be officially approved? Friday’s events won’t actually change in any way. The race weekend will kick off with free practice on Friday, followed by qualifying, which will determine the grid order for Sunday’s race.

A second practice session was originally scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 a.m., but that has been cancelled due to the second qualifying session. This qualifying session will be called the ‘sprint shootout’ and will of course have its own rules.

The first qualifying segment (Q1) will last 12 minutes and drivers will be required to apply a medium set of tyres. They will also use the same compound in the 10-minute middle segment of qualifying (Q2), with only the soft compound available in the final eight minutes (Q3).

As far as the sprint itself is concerned, then, nothing changes in terms of distance covered (100km) or in terms of scoring. Sunday’s action also remains unchanged, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off at 13:00.

F1, Motorsport