The revamped Sprint race format introduced at the Chinese Grand Prix has elicited substantial feedback from F1 teams. Providing flexibility in car setup adjustments post-Sprint, the modifications have been predominantly embraced by team officials.
Following its debut at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, the reworked 2024 F1 Sprint format sparked significant discourse among teams and engineers. The revised schedule included a free practice and the Sprint Shootout on Friday, followed by the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, culminating in the main race on Sunday.
Notably, the relaxation of parc fermé regulations after Saturday’s Sprint race has emerged as a focal point for discussion. This adjustment permits teams to modify car setups between the Sprint event and the Grand Prix qualifying. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella commented on the changes, as quoted by Motorsport Week:
“This reopened parc ferme will certainly be used for tuning the balance of the car.
“Sometimes, this could be large changes if you see you are significantly off. The possibility to reopen parc ferme after the sprint has two implications.
“The first one is that the weekend is slightly more forgiving. Because if you got some ride heights wrong, or you see that the balance needs adjustments based on the tyre behaviour, for instance, you can do it.”
Stella continued:
“And this, at the same time, I think allows you to be slightly more aggressive in the first place in terms of what direction to take, or, for instance, in terms of ride heights, because you can compensate.
“And we actually from a purely engineering point of view found this interesting because we had the opportunity to see the balance in the sprint.
“Obviously, if there were some silver bullets, we would have deployed them already. So, we talked about not much more than some fine-tuning. But it’s interesting from an engineering point of view that you can do it. This change for us is very welcome.”
Tom McCullough, Performance Director at Aston Martin, also commented on the adaptative nature of the Sprint format, especially in venues where the car’s behavior might be unpredictable due to long absences, such as Shanghai. “We had a lot of those discussions coming into the event [such as] rear wing level set-up [etc]. But ultimately doing a 19-lap [sprint] stint is still hard and you can’t really make too big a change compared to the main race,” McCullough explained.
The response from the paddock suggests broad approval for the revised Sprint format, viewing the freedoms in car adjustments post-Sprint as particularly advantageous. The format aims not only to enhance the spectacle but also to intensify the competitive dynamics of the weekend, a blend that has so far resonated well with teams and fans alike.
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