Formula 1 British GP LIVE: Max Verstappen leads, Lewis Hamilton fifth in FP1- Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen- who has topped the Driver standings in f1 this season- is facing a different challenge in the British GP this week. With the introduction of F1 sprint (Sprint qualifying), the Formula 1 weekend is expected to witness several changes this week in Silverstone. The idea is to enrich the experience of Grand Prix for fans at the race track and TV/ Online viewers.
What is F1 Sprint? It is a race that is run over 100 km (17 laps in case of Silverstone) which lasts up to 30 minutes. The changes that are being designed are quite similar to a cricket’s T20 match. The top three drivers will be rewarded with points 3, 2 and 1 point. The podium ceremony will be replaced with a special post-sprint presentation for the top 3 drivers. The finishing order will determine the grid for the final race for Sunday.
Formula 1 British GP LIVE: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen & Co are set for 1st Sprint qualifying; All you need to know; check new weekend structure and schedule
What are the changes? The 1-hour qualifying session that is broken into three part will move to Friday instead of Saturday(s). The session will take place later in the day to ensure working people can watch the LIVE action. Among major chances, only soft tyre will be permitted throughout. The drivers will be free to start on Sunday on any compound without the need to run on tyre in which they qualified on qualifier 2.
There will be only two practice sessions comprising 1 hour each. The first race will take place on Friday lunchtime. The cars will enter FP1 before FP2, which will take place on Saturday morning. They will return to Parc Ferme ahead of F1 sprint where they will be placed in quarantined environment ahead of Sunday’s race.
NOTE: In case of wet weather, teams will get additional set of tyres but they must return a used set ahead of F1 sprint.
Formula 1 British GP: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen & Co are set for 1st Sprint qualifying; All you need to know; check new weekend structure and schedule
How does Parc Ferme works?
As per formula1.com, Rules forbid the changing of major components in Parc Ferme to avoid teams moving to create special ‘qualifying cars’ while also limiting the number ofa hours required for preparing the car for the following day.
There will be three F1 sprint this year, beginning with Silverstone.
“I’m not sure this format would be as successful at Monaco,” says F1 Managing Director, Motorsports, Ross Brawn as quoted by formula1.com.
“We’re considering these weekends being Grand Slam events, spread through the season, so it is something different. I don’t think it’ll go to the whole season, I think it’ll be a limited number of races, but that is to be decided,” he added.
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