Chinese Grand Prix
This is how the sprint races in Formula 1 work
In the sprint qualifying in Shanghai, Lando Norris in the McLaren and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari (front) meet
© Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Formula 1 is running an additional sprint race for the first time this season at the Grand Prix in Shanghai. We explain how it works.
Even the lawn burned, twice. Both the first training session Formula 1 and the following sprint qualifying on Friday had to be interrupted once because a fire broke out on the edge of the Shanghai International Circuit. Apparently sparks from the cars had ignited the dry grass next to the track. Before the sessions continued, marshals moved out to put out the flames. Apparently the race track, which is back on the racing calendar for the first time since 2019, no longer fully meets current safety standards.
The fact that heavy rain set in later made a third fire impossible and also made the first decision of the Grand Prix weekend much more exciting. Lando Norris outstripped the competition under difficult conditions: In the McLaren, the Brit raced to pole position for the sprint race on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin followed in second and third place. The big favorite and world championship leader Max Verstappen finished fourth in the Red Bull.
Sprint format must pass a practical test
Formula 1 is completing its first race weekend of this season in China, which also includes a sprint race on Saturday.
For the process this means: There will be free training on Friday afternoon, followed by qualification for the sprint race in the usual three phases: (SQ1: 12 minutes, SQ2: 10 minutes and SQ3: 8 minutes). The sprint race continues on Saturday, followed a few hours later by the qualification for the main raceon Sunday. So the pilots have to do it twice on Saturday. Whether this will work in practice remains to be seen.
The distance of the sprint race is 100 kilometers, a little less than a third of the normal race distance of 305 kilometers. There are no mandatory stops and there is free choice of tires. The scoring provides eight points for the winner and one point for each of the following places. The points are included in the World Cup ranking as normal. This year there will be six Grands Prix with sprint races.
The new format was introduced in 2021 to make Formula 1 more attractive. The idea came from the then Formula 1 sports director Ross Brawn, known as Michael Schumacher’s former team boss at Ferrari. However, Formula 1 continues to have difficulty with such a serious change to the course of the race weekend. The sprint format has already been reformed twice because the teams struggled with the process and were unable to prepare ideally for Sunday. It remains to be seen whether the sprint format passes the practical test this time.
Friday:
- training
- Sprint qualification
Saturday:
3. Sprint race
4. Qualification for the main race
Sunday:
5. Main race
Sources: “Sports1“, “Motorsport magazine“, “Motorsport total“