In the hopes that the grid will be shaken up, F1 is introducing a new race weekend format, with sprint qualifying races deciding the grid of the Sunday race.
Last week a schedule was announced for the Silverstone Grand Prix, where the new format will debut. The traditional one-hour qualifying session will take place on a Friday evening. This will then set the grid for the sprint qualifying race on Saturday. A 100km race will determine the starting order for the Grand Prix on the Sunday afternoon.
Due to this added session, however, only two of the usual three free practice sessions will be held; FP1 will start on Friday as usual, and FP2 will start on Saturday lunchtime. These practice sessions are useful for drivers with lesser experience, such as rookies. This is due to the fact that they help the drivers learn the track, and how the car handles around the track.
Sprint Qualifying Will be “a bit more difficult”
Drivers know Silverstone well, however, so this should not be detrimental for most drivers. Tsunoda does have some doubts over the new format, especially for places where he or his fellow drivers don’t have experience.
“I would say first sprint race [at] Silverstone for me is good, but in the beginning of the year the first plan was to do a sprint race in Brazil” he said while speaking to reporters.
“For me it’s okay to do a sprint race but as a rookie, for example Brazil I have never driven and also I think most of the rookies, they haven’t driven there” the AlphaTauri driver continued.
“And if we have sprint race, we don’t have a free practice two or three. We have only one free practice and it goes just straight to qualifying. So as a rookie, it’s a bit of a difficult situation.
“If it’s like a track I’ve never driven, I expect it to be a bit more difficult.
“But for me, Silverstone sprint race I definitely support and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Your Take – Sprint Qualifying
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