Formula 1: Sprint race rules confirmed by FIA, new qualifying session for shorter race at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The new rules for this season’s Formula 1 sprint races have been confirmed by the FIA.

The first shortened race will take place at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, and there are some modifications compared to last season’s format.

The race will now have its own qualifying session on Saturday called the “sprint shootout”, while Sunday’s race proper will have its qualifying on Friday. The race qualifying session takes place ahead of the shorter version for the sprint.

The sprint qualifying will consist of three sessions of 12, 10 and eight minutes compared to 18, 15, and 12 for a full qualifying.

For sprint qualifying, teams have to use new tyres in each session, with medium compound tyres in the first two and soft tyres in the final run-out.

The format was only agreed on Tuesday at the F1 Commission, which is made up of the FIA, commercial rights holder F1 and the teams in the sport.

Sprint weekends previously saw Friday using qualifying to set the grid for the sprint, with the final standings in the sprint reflected in the starting order of Sunday’s longer race.

By separating qualifying for both races, it is hoped that teams will be willing to take more risks.

Scoring remains the same for sprints, going to the top-eight finishers. Saturday will now lose a practice session to make room for qualifying.