F1 2023: FIA confirm three sprint races remain for 2023 Formula One calendar
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Published 21/07/2022 at 12:47 GMT
F1 have been keen to have six sprint events on next year’s schedule, but the sport’s governing body have stated the number of sprint races will not change. In its first set of sporting regulations for the 2023 season, the FIA stated: “A sprint session will take place at up to three competitions.” Several drivers have criticised the format during the last 12 months.
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The FIA have confirmed the 2023 Formula One calendar will continue to feature three sprint events, after a proposal to double the number of sprint races was not approved.
F1 have been keen to have at least six sprint event, but a dispute over the budget cap and accident damage costs led to a disagreement between the teams and the sport’s organisers.
In its first set of sporting regulations for the 2023 season, the FIA stated: “A sprint session will take place at up to three competitions.”
The current sprint format of qualifying on a Friday, a 100km sprint race on Saturday and the main Grand Prix on Sunday is unchanged.
F1 introduced its sprint format last year and it was deemed successful enough to be included this season, with two sprint events taking place already at the Emilia Romagna and Austrian Grand Prix.
The Brazilian Grand Prix will hold the third and final sprint event of the 2022 F1 season on November 11-13.
F1 drivers criticise sprint format
The sprint format has come under scrutiny from the drivers with many feeling it “adds nothing” to a Grand Prix weekend.
Earlier this year, George Russell made his thoughts clear about the Saturday sprint race, which features no pit stops, during the Imola weekend.
“I don’t know what the rest of the race was like but it felt processional from where we were,” the Mercedes driver told Sky Sports.
“I’m not a major fan of it, in all honestly, it needs to probably be 50 percent longer or just that little bit longer to see the tyres degrading, where drivers maybe need to manage the tyres a bit more, and then you can see a bit more of a difference between cars.
“But at the moment everyone’s just going flat out, and there’s not a big enough lap time difference to see those overtakes – unless you qualify out of position, like you saw with some cars.”
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