Formula 1 sprint races repeated in 2022, but with some changes compared to 2021. Find out here what those changes are and everything you need to know.
F1 staged its first sprint race of 2022 during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola (in April) following the introduction of the three-round format in the 2021 season at Silverstone, Monza and Interlagos .
Following a review of sprint racing, changes were made to improve the format for fans, teams and drivers alike.
What is a sprint race and why does F1 use it?
A sprint race is basically a shortened version of a normal race, held over a shorter distance. They were already used in many other categories, although perhaps the most appropriate for Formula 1 is to compare it with Formula 2. In F2, the sprint race is 120 km and the main race covers 170 km, and they are not at all lacking in emotion.
The reason they came to Formula 1 in 2021 was to add to the spectacle of the entire grand prix weekend. That gives fans a highlight on each of the three days (whether it’s qualifying or a sprint or normal race), which enhances the overall experience.
F1 had been looking for a long time to make changes to the traditional race weekend format and although other options such as reverse grid races were considered, they did not seem as attractive as sprint races.
What changes in F1 sprint racing in 2022?
Following F1’s review and analysis of the sprint format across all three events in 2021, a number of adjustments have been introduced for this season following feedback from fans and teams.
Circuits of the sprint races in F1 2022
The three sprint races in 2022 will be at Imola (already contested), the Red Bull Ring and Interlagos after having been in 2021 at Silverstone, Monza, and Interlagos . F1 aspired to six races this year, and the others were going to be in Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, but in the end it will only be three.
F1 sprint race scoring system in 2022: points and positions
- Winner (1st) – 8 points
- 2nd place – 7 points
- 3rd place – 6 points
- 4th place – 5 points
- 5th place – 4 points
- 6th place – 3 points
- 7th place – 2 points
- 8th place – 1 point
The distribution of points in each F1 sprint race has increased compared to last year. The winner now takes eight points, instead of three, and scores up to eighth. Before, only the top three scored and the loot was deemed too small to risk. The points are valid both for the world championship for drivers and for the constructors of F1. Points are awarded as follows: first, 8 points; the 2nd 7 points; the 3rd 6 points; the 4th 5 points; the 5th 4 points; the 6th 3 points; the 7th 2 points; and the 8th 1 point. Like last year, the order of arrival in the F1 sprint race decides the grid for Sunday’s grand prix, with penalties being applied after how the grid is placed in the sprint.
Who is Pole Position for according to F1 sprint races 2022?
This year, the driver who sets the fastest time in Q3 of Friday afternoon qualifying is considered a poleman , author of the grand prix pole position, regardless of his finishing position in Saturday’s sprint race. That means the driver who wins the sprint race will not be credited with pole position, even if he manages to start Sunday first. For example, if Friday’s fastest finish second in Saturday’s sprint race and the driver who qualified second wins the sprint race, pole position would go to Friday’s fastest despite having to start the big prize from second place behind the winner of the sprint race.
Team costs for F1 sprint races
To compensate for the cost of the sprint races (as there is one more race on the weekend, there is an extra expense), a subsidy for the three additional races was agreed in 2021 with the teams. An important point for the 2022 sprint races was the cost cap, and it was agreed to increase the teams’ budget and reduce the number of sprint races from six (as originally planned) to three for this season.
Under F1 rules, each team will be allowed to spend $150,000 (€138,000) more per sprint race, with $100,000 (€92,000) more if one of the team’s cars drops out of the sprint race. An additional adjustment to the cost limit can be made to cover accident damage if it leads to the removal of a car from a team.
Outside of economics, if a car is damaged during a sprint race, teams will have to replace the broken parts with the same ones. That’s because the cars enter parc fermé (or parc fermé ) conditions, a point at which major changes can no longer be made, when they reach qualifying on Friday.
Change of the name of the grand prix with sprint race in F1 2022
The name of the Saturday afternoon event has been officially changed from sprint qualifying to sprint only .
What is the format of a grand prix weekend with sprint races?
The sprint weekend format at an F1 Grand Prix is as follows:
- Friday morning – Free Practice 1, 60 minutes long
- Friday afternoon – Traditional qualifying with Q1, Q2 and Q3 to decide the starting order for the sprint race
- Saturday morning – Free practice 2, 60 minutes long
- Saturday afternoon – 100km sprint race
- Sunday afternoon – main race of the grand prix
The normal F1 grand prix weekend format is as follows:
- Friday morning – Free Practice 1, 60 minutes long
- Friday afternoon – Free practice 2, 60 minutes long
- Saturday morning – Free practice 3, 60 minutes long
- Saturday afternoon – Qualifying (with Q1, Q2 and Q3) to decide the starting order on Sunday
- Sunday afternoon – main race of the grand prix
Sprint race weekends have a different format and schedule than normal Grand Prix weekends. The changes force that on Friday there is only one practice session of one hour before the ‘traditional’ classification, which is divided, as always, into Q1, Q2 and Q3.
It must be remembered that F1 in 2021 launched a format of two free sessions of only one hour on Fridays instead of the hour and a half that there was before for each practice, but on weekends with sprint races there is only one on Fridays .
On Saturday, the final hour-long free practice session remains, but it is FP2 and not FP3, as there are only two practices throughout the weekend. Then, the usual classification is replaced by the sprint race.
On Sunday, however, it remains the same, only with the F1 Grand Prix in the afternoon (or at night in local time if it is a night race).
The sprint races consist of 100km, with Sunday’s main race remaining at 305km for all circuits and 260km for Monaco.
The tire rules are also different: in the first 60-minute free practice session on Friday morning, each driver has two sets of tires that the teams will choose freely. In qualifying on Friday afternoon there are five sets of soft tires for each driver.
The 60-minute free practice on Saturday morning is done with a single set of tires of the compound freely chosen by each team.
Saturday afternoon’s sprint qualifying race is on two sets of tires that teams are free to choose from.
And the grand prize, which is the full distance race, is with the two sets of tires that the team of those previously chosen have left for the whole weekend. The teams will be able to choose which tire they start the race with.
On weekends with rain :
At the start of each event, each driver will be given three sets of wet tires and four sets of intermediate tyres. If it rains in FP1 or normal qualifying on Friday afternoon and it is declared wet, teams will receive one more set of Intermediates, although they will have to return a used Intermediate set before the Saturday sprint race.
If the sprint race is wet, teams may return a rain or intermediate set and receive a new, unused intermediate set in return. In total there will be a maximum of nine rain or intermediate sets .
Summary of the rules of sprint racing in F1
- They consist of 100 kilometers (for example, 21 laps at Imola, 24 at the Red Bull Ring)
- They last between 25 minutes and half an hour
- Pit stops are not mandatory, only optional
- Teams choose which sets of tires to use
- Saturday’s grid is decided by Friday’s qualifying
- The author of the pole is considered the fastest in Friday’s classification
- Only the top eight finishers in the sprint races score
- There is no podium ceremony nor do podiums count towards statistics
- The result defines the grid for the main race on Sunday
How many sprint races are there in F1 2022?
After trying three sprint races in 2021, Formula 1 planned a higher number (of seven or eight weekends) for 2022. However, the teams were not happy with the financial reward of doing so many races, and it was finally agreed to do another three sprint races in F1 2022.
Where and when are the sprint races in F1 2022
| Circuit | Big prize | When? Date |
| Imola | Emilia Romagna GP | April 23, 2022 |
| red bull ring | Austrian GP | July 9, 2022 |
| interlagos | Sao Paulo GP | November 12, 2022 |
Which drivers score points in F1 sprint races?
Points are awarded in sprint races, but only to the top three finishers. The winner gets three points, the second classified gets two points and the third gets one point. Unlike Sunday’s feature race, there will be no podium finishes for the sprint races. However, the winner receives a trophy in parc fermé (similar to how the polesitter receives a miniature Pirelli tire for qualifying first).
What happens if a driver doesn’t finish the F1 sprint race?
A driver who does not finish the race in a sprint would have to start Sunday’s grand prix in whatever position he finished in that race.
For example, if a driver failed to finish the sprint race and was the first to retire or did not start the sprint race, he would start Sunday’s grand prix from the back of the grid, last (in the same way as a driver crashing in qualifying would start from the back of the grid).
Will Formula 1 use sprint racing on a regular basis in the future?
It is not clear if the sprint races will continue beyond the three planned for the 2022 season, but the fact that they have repeated this year after last year’s experiment suggests that F1 owners want to insist. However, F1 does not intend to do them in all races, but in so-called ‘Grand Slams’, that is, few and special grand prix during a season.
However, there is a possibility that if drivers, teams or fans don’t enjoy the new format at some point, sprint racing will be pushed to the side. During the 2016 F1 season, for example, the controversial “elimination qualifying” format, in which every 90 seconds of qualifying saw the slowest car eliminated, was scrapped after two rounds following a very mixed reaction from drivers, teams and fans.
