Sprint Races: 3 Grands Prix pre-selected for experimentation in 2021

The pace is picking up in the debates regarding the addition of Sprint rounds in Formula 1 from the 2021 season. 

Less than a week later Stefano Domenicali's comments on the subject, stakeholders already seem ready to submit a first proposal for a vote at the next meeting of the F1 Commission, Thursday February 11. 

During one of his first media briefings in his new role, the CEO of the F1 Group revealed that the reverse grid project discussed in recent years had been definitively shelved, but not the idea of ​​adding Sprint races the Saturday. 

Few concrete details were shared at that time but we did not have to wait long for the first outlines of the measure to emerge. 

CARhebdo learned that 3 Grands Prix had been pre-selected for the experiment: these are Canada, Italy (Monza), and Brazil: 3 nervous, fast circuits, which generally offer a spectacle on the track according to decision-makers.

On these weekends, the Free Practice 2 session on Friday would be replaced by qualifying, which would be used to determine the starting order for the famous Sprint Race on Saturday. The results of the shortened event would form the grid for the traditional Sunday Grand Prix.

To try to encourage drivers to take risks on Saturday, and thus limit the strategic dimension of the measure as much as possible, points could be awarded to the first 8 in the Sprint round, according to a reduced scale however. 

F1 believes that this model would attract more fans throughout the weekend since each day of running would include a high-stakes session. A boon for developers, not spared by the Covid-19 crisis, who could thus vary and expand their commercial offering.

All this must naturally be taken with the usual precautions because the addition of Sprint races to the 2021 calendar requires a majority of 28 votes out of the 30 votes cast at the F1 Commission: 10 for the FIA, 10 for the F1/Liberty Group Media, 10 for the stables. 

In addition, many subsidiary questions remain unanswered. What about engine and tire allowances for example? Will they be revised upwards? Will several compounds have to be used during the Sprint round, as is the case during GPs contested in the dry?

What we can already remember is F1's determination to reshuffle the format of its race weekends from 2021.