Formula 1 turns the sprint race into a highlight of a Grand Prix

There Formula 1 try to add some spice to a championship that runs the risk of being anesthetized by the domination of Red Bull. After 28 days of break he is preparing to leave Baku again this weekend with the new format designed to increase the show in the six seasonal weekends in which the 100 km sprint race is scheduled, which awards points to the first eight classified.

After trying to disguise it in Sprint Qualifying in the debut year and correcting the shot a bit last year, Liberty Media is launching what could become the definitive format of sprint races. No longer the first 100km of a 400m race, but a race with life (and its own qualifications). This year they will be three more than last season and, after Baku, they will be repeated in Austria, Belgium, Qatar, Austin and Brazil and will have dedicated qualifications called Sprint Shootout. They will go on the track on Saturday morning and will last very little: twelve minutes of Q1, ten of Q2 and eight of Q3. In practice, each driver will have only one lap available in each Q and a mistake would be fatal.

Imagine yourself between the walls of the old city of Baku where many have left their dreams in the past. They will be sprint qualifying, dedicated to the sprint race which will then take place in the afternoon and will no longer affect the starting grid of the Sunday Grand Prix as it did until last year. Qualifying for the real race will be held on Friday afternoon with the classic formula. In doing so, the organizers aim to have more closely fought sprint races given that an accident would no longer compromise the starting position the day after. In short, a little more spice on a weekend in which there will be only one session with nothing at stake, the free practice sessions on Friday morning which at this point also become the only ones available for fine-tuning the cars both for qualifying and for the race.

In this American-style Formula 1 there is the continuous search for entertainment, the desire to always offer something more to the paying spectator (the one who participates live and the one who follows on TV or on various device). It is a Formula 1 that has understood the great effectiveness of highlights so much so that it has begun to offer them on its platforms to increase the worldwide audience and capture the attention of the younger audience and thus builds a day that seems like thehighlights of a grand prix: mini-qualifying and mini-race, all to be consumed with half an hour of attention in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon (red flags excluded). The new format that will probably make old enthusiasts turn up their noses can really turn into a concentrate of suspense and adrenaline. It has all the characteristics necessary to entertain the public even if, it must be said, nothing for the moment suggests that Red Bull is beatable in the short distance. There were surprises on the bikes that from this year apply the Sprint race to every race. The dominating Ducati failed, but on two wheels the error rate is very high and above all Bagnaia is not yet Verstappen and often ends up in the sand.

Baku is a track where the engine matters more than the circuits where we have raced so far. In short, Ferrari could bet on what appears to be the only joker at its disposal, at least until significant changes are seen on the track, which should happen above all at Imola. “Almost a month has passed since the last Grand Prix and in recent weeks we have worked hard in Maranello on the development of the SF-23, both in terms of improving the current car package and in terms of planned updates, which will be introduced gradually over the course of of the next races – said Vasseur – Charles and Carlos did their part, working on the simulator and giving us important feedback. In Australia we had already made a step forward in terms of pure performance and for Azerbaijan we intend to start again from here”. Mercedes itself is looking for itself with novelties in the technical structure and on the car. In the meantime, all we have to do is rely on the sprint race on Saturday to have some fun and maybe surprise us.