Formula 1 is to introduce a new format for ‘sprint’ races, starting at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The ‘sprint’ – a shorter race held on Saturday – has been made independent of the grand prix and will have its own qualifying session, known as the ‘sprint shootout’. There will then be a shorter qualifying session, to the same knockout format, on Saturday to set the sprint grid. The ‘sprint’ qualifying will have three sessions, with the slowest five cars eliminated at the end of the first two, but the sessions will be cut to just 12, 10 and eight minutes. The previous format for sprint weekends, which were introduced in 2021, had the Friday qualifying session setting the grid for the sprint and the result of the sprint establishing the grid for the main grand prix. This session has been replaced by the new qualifying session for the sprint event.

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