F1 Commission agrees changes needed for sprint format

A meeting of the Formula 1 Commission has seen support for further changes to the sprint format to separate it from the rest of a grand prix weekend.

The current schedule sees qualifying for the main race take place on Friday night after one FP1 session, and then the sprint shootout and sprint on Saturday before the grand prix on Sunday. Drivers and teams feel that schedule locks them into parc ferme regulations too soon, and it has been agreed that the format needs revising.

While no firm changes were outlined, discussions are set to take place in January over potential ideas such as moving the sprint shootout to Friday evening and the sprint then taking place before the main qualifying session on a Saturday, although a reverse grid for the sprint could also be looked into following support from a number of drivers.

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The F1 Commission meeting also resulted in a ban on tire blankets -- already pushed back by one year -- scrapped for 2025, while the current tire allocations of 13 dry sets per weekend will also remain in place. Teams also agreed that they are not going to be allowed to do any development work on a car for the 2026 season before the start of 2025.

The technical regulations are going to be updated to permit teams to run a scoop to increase driver cooling, in response to the conditions seen in the Qatar Grand Prix earlier this year.

Further updates regarding the development of a wet weather package were also provided, with a wheel cover to reduce spray set to be tested in early 2024. The test “will use a cover design that completely envelopes the tire, in order to establish a proof of concept for the wheel cover with these cars and help define the future direction of the project.”