F1, the first Sprint Race of 2024 in China. How the regulations have changed since last year

The Chinese Grand Prix will propose the first Sprint of the season. I am 6 the mini-competitions scheduled for 2024. The one in Shanghai will be followed by the events in Miami, Spielberg, Austin, San Paolo and Lusail. In this regard, it is necessary to remember how the cards have changed forumpteenth time.

The structure of the weekend will be different from that of 2023. The last year on Friday the qualifying sessions valid for the actual Grand Prix on Sunday were held. Saturday was entirely reserved for Sprint, with the so-called shoot-out in the morning and the race reduced to the afternoon.

Now the situation is different. The Friday afternoon is disputed “Sprint Qualification”new name of the late shoot-outwhich will determine the starting grid of the Sprint. This will be held on Saturday morningwhile on Saturday afternoon we will witness the actual qualifying sessions, aimed at establishing the Grand Prix line-up.

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In short, the order becomes entirely linear. Free practice, sprint qualification, sprint race, “real” qualification, Grand Prix. There will finally be one different timing in qualifications. Those “sprints” will have reduced pace (12 minutes for Q1, 10 for Q2 and 8 for Q3), therefore the 50% less compared to the canonical ones.