Before the season opener in China

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Who will take the first sprint victory?(Bild: APA/AFP/Toshifumi KITAMURA)

The first sprint format of this year's Formula 1 season will take place in China next weekend. Compared to last year, a few things have changed. A brief overview of what's new in the format. 

There will be a total of six sprint races this season. After the opening weekend in China (April 19 to 21), the action continues in Miami (May 3 to 5). The other sprints will take place in Spielberg (from June 28), Austin (from October 18), Brazil (from November 1) and Qatar (from November 29).

In contrast to last season, the format this year is not limited to one "compact" day. While the sprint shootout (qualifying for the sprint) and the sprint race were both held on Saturday in 2023, this year the sprint qualifying will take place on Friday, directly after the only free practice session. The sprint race will then take place on Saturday. Qualifying for the Grand Prix on Sunday will follow immediately afterwards. 

Changes to the set-up
Another significant change is that changes to the set-up of the race cars are permitted. On "traditional race weekends", teams are prohibited from making changes after the start of qualifying (parc-ferme rule). Until last year, this was also the case for sprint races. However, this was associated with difficulties, as the teams only had one free practice session to find the ideal set-up for the weekend. 

In 2024, the parc-ferme rule is regulated as follows on sprint weekends: It applies from the start of the sprint shootout until the end of the sprint race. The teams can then make adjustments. The rule will apply again from the start of qualifying until the end of the race. 

The points distribution remains unchanged. The winner of the sprint race receives eight points. There is one point less for each further place, so that the eighth-placed driver can still score one point.