After Suzuka, Formula 1 lands in China where it hasn't raced since 2019. A return made even more uncertain by the Sprint weekend, the first of this season which sees a new format this year. Before starting to warm up the engines, let's see what changes to Fanta F1 with the new Sprint format.
At the beginning of the season the Formula 1 has made the Sprint calendar official for this season, with 6 stages that will accommodate the mini-race format. These stops are China, Miami – two locations that had never hosted a Sprint race before, Austria, Austin, Brazil and Qatar. The calendar is not the only new feature introduced for this season. The format, as happened in past years, has in fact been revised to meet the requests of teams and fans.
How the structure of the Sprint weekend changes
The big news for this season, the fourth since the introduction of the Sprint, is the moving the Sprint Shootout, i.e. the qualification that determines the starting grid of the Sprint, to Friday after the only free practices of the weekend. The actual Sprint will therefore be the first event on Saturday and will maintain the same points award system as last season with 8 points for the first place and 1 point for the eighth. The Grand Prix qualifying, initially scheduled for Friday, will also take place on Saturday but at the conclusion of the Sprint race. Sunday will remain exclusive instead of the race.
The first Sprint of the season will be held in China, on the occasion of the return of the Asian stage absent from 2019. The last one will be held in Qatar.
What changes at Fanta F1?
But with these changes to the Sprint format, what happens to Fanta F1? The changes will not have a significant impact on Fanta F1. With the Sprint Shooutout moved to Friday in fact, the obligation to deploy the formation by the start of the Friday session remains, even if it's Sprint qualifying. It will therefore be necessary to look for as many clues as possible in the only free practice session of the weekend to build your team while waiting for the Sprint Shootout.
The many unknowns could put everyone on the same level again. Or at least the teams that have achieved the podium and at least one victory so far, namely Red Bull and Ferrari. With the many points up for grabs even in the middle of the group, it promises to be an interesting weekend.
