Sprint Race For Quali

[yco]

Such a big concept change trial actually by going for 100km sprint race on Saturday for Sunday's GP.. quite a change after almost a decade..



https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...pmE5xK4sK.html

[Ngilbe36]

Originally Posted by yco

Such a big concept change trial actually by going for 100km sprint race on Saturday for Sunday's GP.. quite a change after almost a decade..



https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...pmE5xK4sK.html

I am interested to see how it goes.
Introducing it in just a few races at first is definitely better than chucking it into a season for every race.

I think it will make it more interesting, but I do think it has some very odd implications for the championship. It puts much more weight behind cars that can handle well in traffic and pass.

[rcracin]

That's two wheel to wheel races for the weekend and when most crashes tend to happen in lap 1, I wonder how this affects the cost cap.

Otherwise should be fun.

[yco]

yes its more like a trial for next year but if it really comes into play, it ll mean that "pole position" or fastest driver over one lap concept will be gone.. even if its for quali it still be a race.. and 1/3 race distance is not that short..

quali format has a different flavour than GP day and its part of F1.. and its awesome.. im ready to change my mind about this but so far doesnt seem like that.. im not sure playing with F1's DNA is the solution to spice up the show.. lets see..

[Ngilbe36]

Originally Posted by yco

yes its more like a trial for next year but if it really comes into play, it ll mean that "pole position" or fastest driver over one lap concept will be gone.. even if its for quali it still be a race.. and 1/3 race distance is not that short..

quali format has a different flavour than GP day and its part of F1.. and its awesome.. im ready to change my mind about this but so far doesnt seem like that.. im not sure playing with F1's DNA is the solution to spice up the show.. lets see..

I am with you, qualifying is no slouch in terms of excitement for me. I really like the current format and Q3 gets pretty wild sometimes! I have an open mind for now though.

[3798j]

Originally Posted by yco

.. im not sure playing with F1's DNA is the solution to spice up the show..

My thought too.

[FuzzyPeaches]

Originally Posted by rcracin

That's two wheel to wheel races for the weekend and when most crashes tend to happen in lap 1, I wonder how this affects the cost cap.

Otherwise should be fun.

Speaking from memory and not any actual facts, I believe that was the big talk the teams were having regarding this change. They said the cap needed to be increased to cover the extra racing.

[racerbruce]

We can see it now....the massive traffic jam(s) while the drivers attempt to team up with a known car that has the greatest trap speed that weekend....and follow that car to achieve the maximum slipstream....can't you see it now....drivers holding secret meetings to team up and create "the advantage".

[Autobacs]

Very interesting for sure.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPeaches

Speaking from memory and not any actual facts, I believe that was the big talk the teams were having regarding this change. They said the cap needed to be increased to cover the extra racing.

Originally Posted by rcracin

That's two wheel to wheel races for the weekend and when most crashes tend to happen in lap 1, I wonder how this affects the cost cap.

Otherwise should be fun.

They've already decided on how to tackle that for the three races this season:

RaceFans understands each team will receive a $75,000 payment from Formula 1 Management per Sprint Qualifying race to cover the cost of participation. On top of that, any team which suffers significant damage in one of the extra races will be permitted to spent up to $200,000 more over their budget cap limit per round.

https://www.racefans.net/2021/04/19/...lifying-races/


I'm of the same opinion as most F1 fans and against it, particularly against awarding points for the sprint race (3-2-1). If they must try it, I hope it goes the way of the elimination style format they tried in Australia in 2016 and gets dropped quickly.

Also, not cool on Liberty Media for pulling aside the F1 drivers and asking them to be less vocal on their opposition to the changes. A bit surprising that Domenicali of all people led the meeting as most people consider him a real racer and a perfect replacement for Chase Carey to lead F1

From another RaceFans article:

The drivers largely fell into line following a meeting with Domenicali during pre-season testing in Bahrain, where they are believed to have been urged to rein in their criticism having panned a similar proposal last year. Pierre Gasly confirmed the sprint race proposal was discussed but said “I don’t want to go public.”

[inTgr8r]

1st lap carnage in the sprint is what concerns me.
There could be cars out of the Sunday race due to the qualli sprint.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

1st lap carnage in the sprint is what concerns me.
There could be cars out of the Sunday race due to the qualli sprint.

I dont think cars missing the race on Sunday will be an issue. Time has shown that all the teams are quite capable of rebuilding a car quickly, especially overnight.

I think the bigger issue will be the availability of spare parts (especially newer spec parts) for teams further down the grid and the implications of damage on the cost cap limit.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by apexit4

I dont think cars missing the race on Sunday will be an issue. Time has shown that all the teams are quite capable of rebuilding a car quickly, especially overnight.

I think the bigger issue will be the availability of spare parts (especially newer spec parts) for teams further down the grid and the implications of damage on the cost cap limit.

I agree if its just an individual 'off'
I think the difference when racing is when you get muti-car incidents the damage can be much worse.

e.g BOT & RUS last race; if that happened in a sprint, I highly doubt that the Merc or Williams would make the race.

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

I agree if its just an individual 'off'
I think the difference when racing is when you get muti-car incidents the damage can be much worse.

e.g BOT & RUS last race; if that happened in a sprint, I highly doubt that the Merc or Williams would make the race.

It's possible teams will take that into account and ask their drivers to calm it down a notch for the sprint quali race starts?

I wonder if tire choice for the sprint race might make things interesting. With 100km race, will a soft set of tyres last the whole race without a pit stop for new tires, or degrade enough such that a two stop soft/medium might catch them? I also wonder why they limited it to two compounds? Could there be a scenario where a hard tire can do the whole race but the other two compounds require a pit, and so the teams have to take that into account.

It's also interesting that the race tire compound will be a free choice in this setup.