Formula 1 introduced the weekend format with sprint races in the 2021 season, where the order of qualifying and free practice was changed.
With this change, the qualifying session dispute was moved to Friday afternoon, and it would not decide the order of the grid for Sunday’s race, but rather it would serve to check how they would do in the sprint race.
Said race would be held on Saturday afternoon, instead of the typical classification, and would decide the starting order for Sunday, although points would be awarded to the first three (3-2-1).
This was heavily criticised, and F1 ran three test events in 2021 to see what it would look like. This is how the first appointment with this format was experienced at Silverstone, in which Max Verstappen became the first winner of this type of race.
The second test was carried out in Monza , while in Interlagos the last of the tests was carried out before deciding if this weekend program would be continued for the future.
Now, following a meeting between the team bosses at Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, Motorsport.com has learned exclusively that F1 will stage six World Championships in 2022 with one sprint race.
Circuits that will have an F1 sprint race in 2022
Initially, it will be these six venues that will host a weekend with the format that was introduced in Great Britain in July 2021:
- Bahrain Grand Prix (Shakir)
- Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (Imola)
- Canadian Grand Prix (Gilles Villeneuve)
- Austrian Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring)
- Dutch Grand Prix (Zandvoort)
- Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos)
Valtteri Bottas, winner of the sprint race in Brazil
The problems for F1 sprint races in 2022
However, this resolution has been reached after discussing economic issues, one of the keys for the teams. Although they are happy to keep the race to the sprint, a financial agreement needed to be reached.
This season, the teams received extra income as compensation for possible accidents that they could suffer in these Saturday sprint races. Sources suggest that F1 prefers this quota to be fixed for the next campaign, but there are disagreements between the teams to adjust the budget limit.
Teams on the budget limit favor the extra funding being added to this cap, while others prefer the extra amount simply to be received.
The initial proposal is about $500,000 for each sprint race , with a maximum of five events, with extra pay for added events.
The economy is very important for the teams, and the main concern for the idea of the sprint format to go forward, so an agreement between all was necessary. A source from one of the teams said: “We cannot accept losing money by participating in these tests.”
Proposals for F1 sprint races in 2022
Although much has been discussed for financial reasons, the talks have also focused on the distribution of points, something that Ross Brawn said was going to change.
Among the ideas that have been cited is to award points to the top ten rather than just the fastest three. In addition, F1 wants the FIA to change the rules to stipulate that the pole position goes to the fastest driver in qualifying, and not to the one who wins the sprint race, as has happened in 2021.
The category will continue to talk to the teams to indicate if these short races will be independent of the main race and that they stop defining the grid order for Sunday.
