F1 sprint races are into their third year, with the latest changes aimed at improving the spectacle. After the latest changes debuted at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the F1 sprint race is back for the Austrian GP.
Here’s what you need to know about the F1 sprint race.
What is a sprint race and why are they in F1?
In 2021, sprint races were introduced into F1 as a way to spice up the action and provide a new format to contrast the traditional grand prix weekend schedule. They were also created to ensure a competitive session took place on each day of the race weekend: Qualifying on Friday, Sprint on Saturday and Grand Prix on Sunday.
A sprint race is essentially a shortened version of a normal race, taking place over a shorter distance of 100km. They’re used in many other series, though perhaps most notably for Formula 1 is their inclusion in the Formula 2 race weekend.
Here’s our guide on F1 sprints when they were first introduced in 2021.
What has changed to the F1 sprint race for 2023?
This season has marked the latest changes to the F1 sprint race format. Friday’s qualifying now only applies to Sunday’s grand prix, making Saturday’s action entirely standalone from the rest of the weekend.
On Friday the first, and only, practice session is be held in its usual slot before a regular hour-long qualifying session in the normal Q1-Q2-Q3 format. This sets the grid for Sunday’s grand prix and has no bearing on Saturday’s sprint qualifying or sprint race.
F1 has dropped its Saturday practice session for a new sprint qualifying session, essentially a shorter version of regular qualifying – with Q1 12 minutes, Q2 10 minutes and Q3 eight minutes – held in the morning before the sprint race in the afternoon.
The sprint race is the same length and format as 2022, equivalent to a 100km race, with points on offer for the top eight finishers. The winner picks up eight points, second place scores seven points and it continues descending down to eighth place with one point.
Then on Sunday, the grand prix takes place as normal.
The 2023 F1 sprint race weekend format:
Friday morning – 60-minute Free Practice 1
Friday afternoon – Regular qualifying to order the starting grid for the grand prix
Saturday morning – Sprint qualifying to order the starting grid for the sprint race
Saturday afternoon – Sprint race – top eight scoring points
Sunday – Full grand prix race – top 10 scoring points plus the fastest lap bonus point
How will sprint qualifying work in F1 2023?
Sprint qualifying is held on Saturday mornings and effectively replaces a practice session. It is shorter than regular qualifying and has different rules.
Q1 is 12 minutes, Q2 10 minutes and Q3 eight minutes with each segment split by seven-minute breaks. New tyres are mandatory for each phase of qualifying: medium tyres for Q1 and Q2, soft tyres for Q3. New sets for each segment of qualifying are required because teams won’t have time to go for multiple runs in qualifying and therefore won’t be able to pit for fresh tyres during each segment of qualifying.
Other than that, the rules are the same as regular qualifying, with the bottom five dropping out in Q1 and then again in Q2, with the top 10 fighting it out in Q3.
How will grid penalties work in 2023 F1 sprint race weekends?
Grid penalties picked up prior to the race weekend, during Friday’s practice or during Friday qualifying are applied to the grand prix on Sunday. Grid penalties picked up during Saturday’s sprint race qualifying are applied to the sprint race and not the grand prix.
A grid penalty gained from an incident in the sprint race is applied to Sunday’s grand prix, while any parc ferme breach result in pitlane starts for both the sprint race and grand prix.
Any gird penalties for power unit changes only apply to the grand prix, unless it represents a parc ferme breach, which results in pitlane starts for the sprint race and the grand prix.
How many sprint races will happen?
After F1 was limited to three sprint race events each in 2021 and 2022, it has been expanded to six rounds in 2023. The Azerbaijan GP hosted the first one this season, with the others set to take place in Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the United States and Brazil.
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F1 sprint race weekends in 2023 |
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Azerbaijan GP |
27-29 April |
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Austrian GP |
30 June-2 July |
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Belgian GP |
27-29 July |
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Qatar GP |
5-7 October |
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United States GP |
19-21 October |
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Brazilian GP |
2-4 November |
How did the new sprint race rules go at the Azerbaijan GP?
Baku hosted its first sprint race earlier this season, which also marked the first time a sprint race took place on a street track.
Williams’ Logan Sargeant crashed in sprint race qualifying with the damage ruling him out of the sprint race, but he was able to start the grand prix the next day from his original qualifying spot secured in Friday’s grand prix qualifying session.
McLaren exploited a tyre rules loophole when Lando Norris made it into Q3 but couldn’t take part in the session as he had no more new soft tyre sets available, so qualified 10th.
Esteban Ocon qualified 13th for the sprint race but had to start from the pitlane, and subsequently also from the pitlane for the grand prix, due to Alpine making changes to his car in parc ferme. Nico Hulkenberg also started the grand prix from the pitlane for parc ferme changes made on Sunday before the race.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who topped qualifying for both the sprint and the grand prix, was unable to halt the Red Bull charge, as Sergio Perez took both wins. Leclerc was able to hold on to second place in the sprint, partly down to Max Verstappen clashing with George Russell early on, but he was powerless to stop a Red Bull 1-2 in the grand prix.
While the latest sprint race format tweaks gained a mostly positive reaction, the overwhelming issue raised was that teams cannot make any car set-up changes from the moment grand prix qualifying starts on Friday afternoon without facing a pitlane start for both the sprint and the grand prix - meaning car performance is locked in for the rest of the weekend.
"We cannot change the car [overnight]. So, of course, you can work a little bit here and there on a flap maybe,” Leclerc said in Baku after the sprint race. “But [the sprint event] confirms a little bit what we thought the Red Bull still has the upper hand in the race.”
