New Weekend Format Approved for Baku

The FIA officially approved the new Sprint Weekend format after all the teams agreed to it; the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will feature a sprint race for the first time.

The Azerbaijan GP will feature the new Sprint Weekend format. | Credit: McLaren.

Formula 1 and all of its teams have revised the sprint weekend format, bringing a few changes that will be implemented from now on. Before the changes, the format was determined as follows:

Friday was comprised of FP1, and Sprint Race Qualifying. Saturday had the second free practice session (FP2), and the Sprint Race, which determined the starting grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.

To maximize significant track time, and to keep fans engaged throughout the whole weekend, a few tweaks have been made to how the weekend is distributed. The main change is that the Sprint Race will not determine the starting grid for Sunday's race.

Friday will see its only Free Practice Session, teams will have 60 minutes to complete all their programs, and set up the car for the Qualifying Session later during the day. Qualifying on Friday will determine the starting order for the main race on Sunday.

Saturday will be Sprint-Day, featuring the Sprint Race Qualifying Session, and the 100 km race later on. Points for the Sprint Race did not suffer any changes to P1 will get 8 points, P2 gets 7 points, P3 gets 6, and so on until we reach P8, which gets 1 point. The rest of the grid does not get any points at all.

Here is an outline with all of the changes to the Sprint Weekend Format:

Friday

• Free Practice: 60 minutes.

• Qualifying Session (For Sunday's race): Regular Format of Q1, Q2, and Q3.

Saturday

• Sprint Race Qualifying

  • Q1: 12 minutes on medium tires

  • Q2: 10 minutes on medium tires

  • Q3: 8 minutes on soft tires.

• Sprint Race: 100 km with no mandatory pit stops.

  • P1 gets 8 points

  • P2 gets 7 points

  • P3 gets 6 points

  • ...

  • P8 gets 1 point.

  • P9 to P20 get no points.

Sunday

• Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Looks like the changes will bring a more action-packed weekend to the fans, but will be a source of stress for drivers, pit crew, and engineers. Traffic could become an issue because everyone will want to be out on track for as much time as possible.

Turn 9 is the narrowest corner in the F1 calendar (7.6 meters across). | Credit: Autosport

Baku is a street circuit with walls surrounding all of the layout, there is little room for maneuvering, and very few overtaking spots. The circuit features the narrowest corner on the calendar, Turn 9, with only 7.6 meters across; the corner goes uphill, surrounding the Baku Fortress. It is certainly one of the most picturesque corners of the calendar.

Let's see how drivers and strategists handle traffic-related issues during the whole weekend.