Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. /
British GP
The new sprint classification marks the dispute of a British Grand Prix in which it has been used to present a real scale model of an F1 with the 2022 regulations
Formula 1 is about to cross a generational border and the first steps will be taken this weekend. It is no coincidence that Silverstone, the cradle of the competition, is going to host this weekend the premiere of the new grand prix format that they intend to implement in the not too distant future.
The new sprint classification (and its official name is important) will mark the future of one of the most unusual grand prizes of recent times. For a long time, those responsible for Formula 1 have been seriously concerned with getting fans hooked during the three days of activity on the track. The free on Fridays long ago became a tedious procedure, which is neither profitable economically nor sportively. The reduction in half an hour for each free practice session has helped the latter change, but even so it is still a very unattractive day for the public.
Under that premise, they devised the new weekend format that will start this Friday with news. To start with, there will only be one free practice session in the afternoon, starting at 3:30 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time). This hour of rehearsals will serve to prepare the cars for the first classification of the weekend, which will be held at 7:00 p.m. and which is really the ‘purest’. The format of Q1, Q2 and Q3 will be maintained, but from there the grid will not start from Sunday’s race, but from the new session on Saturday.
Technically, sprint qualifying is a sprint race. There will be 17 laps (about 100 km) of the Silverstone circuit that the 20 drivers will have to do in a start whose order is established according to the result of Friday. The order in which this short race ends will serve to establish the grid for the real race on Sunday, but from Formula 1 they do not want to give the same value to Saturday’s as to Sunday’s. From the outset, its official name is “sprint classification”. Although the fastest lap of a driver will not be sought, but the grid will be decided in a typical competition, an attempt has been made to minimize all the pomp: only the first three will score (3, 2 and 1 point), there will be no Mandatory pit stop and tires can be freely chosen. There will not be a podium ceremony as such, but a laurel wreath will be given, as in the past, to the winner in the same closed park.
If the schedules on Friday change, they are the same: there will be a second free practice session between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., so that at 5:30 p.m. that qualification is played in the half-hour sprint. The order in which they finish in that half hour will make up the race on Sunday, which will be held from 4:00 p.m. This will be as normal as it can be, at least in terms of format.
The idea is as novel as it is doubtful. Several riders have shown their reluctance, such as a Sebastian Vettel who does not see it correct to describe the winner of Saturday’s sprint race as a poleman. Others, like Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen, do not give it much importance. At the end of the day, what matters to them is what happens on Sunday, since the intense fight they have for the World Cup does not leave them room to walk with other reflections.
The F1 of 2022 see the light … in a model
Taking advantage of the fact that F1 is at home, not like the Eurocup, the organizers of the competition showed for the first time a full scale model based on the 2022 regulations. As shown in the computer images months ago, the new cars will be smaller, aerodynamically simpler and with a very different look from the current one. The goal is as simple to say as it is complex to achieve: more fun races, a better show and more overtaking.
Wider and lower front wing, but no appendages, all the aerodynamic flow focused towards the flat bottom (like the first ground effect cars of the 70s), mushroom-shaped rear wing, 18-inch tires with a luck hubcaps … A radical design that, in the words of Fernando Alonso, he hopes will give “more even battles.” That is the great objective of these new cars. F1 cannot face a new era without attracting the younger public and beyond correctly implementing a communication strategy more appropriate to the times (and little by little they are achieving it), the main thing is racing. If they are vibrant again, the rest will come rolling.
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