The sprint format means the teams have only one practice session to get their cars ready before the opening sprint qualifying and race action, which means deploying unusual FP1 run plans compared to standard race events.
In FP1 in China last week – the first sprint weekend of the 2024 season – Alonso’s Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll topped a session where the teams concentrated on long runs before unleashing a series of qualifying simulations late on.
