Weeks ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, which features the first Sprint of the year, the teams have agreed on the format.

In one fell swoop Stefano Domenicali and his F1 bosses get their way, reducing practice to a bare minimum (one hour) as - as previously reported - there will be just one practice session on Friday morning with qualifying for Sunday's race in the afternoon.

Saturday will effectively be a stand-alone, with qualifying for the Sprint in the morning and the Sprint itself in the afternoon. The outcome of the Sprint - other than potential crash damage - having no bearing on the Grand Prix.

"For once I think all the teams were aligned," said Frederic Vasseur, "it's not very often that it's the case so we have to jump on it.

"The format is more dynamic and you can discuss about doing it so late but at the end of the day I think if we're all aligned then we have to push for it.

"I like the format," he insisted. "I'm not a big fan of the usual FP2, sometimes it's a bit boring, not for us because we have a lot of data, but I can imagine for the spectators and even for you if you don't know about the level of fuel, the engine mode and so on it's probably a bit boring, and to try to have something more dynamic during the weekend is a good decision.

"If you watch football you're not watching the session on Wednesday when they are training in the stadium," he added, "we are probably the only sport where we are putting the training session on TV."

Red Bull boss, Christian Horner has previously described the decision to hold a Sprint at Baku, a street track with a reputation for incidents, as "ludicrous", while in Melbourne Max Verstappen reiterated that he is not a fan of the Sprints, warning that further tinkering with race weekend formats could cause him to reconsider his future in F1.

However, speaking to Sky Sports at the weekend, Vasseur, team principal at Ferrari, the team that more than any other has talked of tradition and DNA, and regularly made all manner of threats in terms of its resistance to change, appeared to be fully on-board with the views of F1 bosses.

"Of course, there needs to be the time for practice," he admitted, "but the people are coming to see performance and the more that you give the teams and drivers the chance to see who they are, the better it is for the show.

"It's not because we don't respect the traditions," he insisted, "we respect the old way of thinking of our weekend, but it would be wrong not to think about it.

"We also have a new generation that are coming in that are more aggressive in asking for something different."

"Aggressive in asking for something different"... is that what they're protesting about on the streets of various cities in France... a new look to race weekends? Well, who would have guessed? It must also explain the ongoing protests in the Netherlands, who would have thought all those farmers are F1 fans?

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 08/04/2023 23:49

"@RP....Each team will get an allowance for "23 amounting to an additional $1.8M. Unless a car is written off this should cover costs."

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2. Posted by RP, 08/04/2023 14:18

"As I understand it, currently parc ferme begins after qualifying. If qualifying on Friday signals the begging of parc ferme, does that apply to the Saturday setup and sprint race and there must be a dispensation to repair the inevitable crash damage that will occur during the sprint race. I suppose the FIA will ensure, somehow, as the car is rebuilt it will be to the precise setup. Sure they will.
The inevitable huge costs will impact the spending cap which hardly seems right. Since the owners are doing this to improve the "show", perhaps they should provide the funding for the repairs that most assuredly will be incurred. "

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3. Posted by Mad Matt, 08/04/2023 10:14

"I pretty much agree with all the comments below. A good example would be McLaren who say they'll bring a big update for Baku to try and catch up. Limiting both testing and now free practice is going to make that very difficult."

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4. Posted by habentsen, 08/04/2023 8:28

"Can we do a deal?
Stef get 23 fridays without free practice in a 23 race season.
Teams get 23 days of in-season track testing outside the budget cap.
Teams get one day of track testing added back in under the budget cap per win from last season. Win 3 races, you have 20 days of free testing and 3 days limited by your budget."

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5. Posted by Endre, 07/04/2023 13:14

"How are the rookies supposed to learn about their cars and setting them them up with no practice? This will clearly disadvantage the less experienced drivers."

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6. Posted by Max Noble, 07/04/2023 10:59

"FIA and Liberty moving towards no driving at all. Simulators, Reality TV, and manic instagram feeds. Far safer if the cars never leave the garage…
No development = Those coming last will stay there for all time…"

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7. Posted by Editor, 07/04/2023 10:11

"@ Rambler

Can't do that... Stefano and the boys want the title decided in Las Vegas."

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8. Posted by rambler, 07/04/2023 10:08

"Less practice = Less development. Less development means that slower teams have less chance of catching up. Just hand Vestappen Racing the trophies.All sustainability targets met and exceeded."

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9. Posted by TokyoAussie, 07/04/2023 9:29

"Qualifying for Sunday race on Friday. Qualifying for Saturday sprint, which comes before Sunday race, on Saturday, which comes after Friday. Perfectly sensible. So the sprint has no relationship with the race, other than it’s the same cars, same drivers, & same championship. At least the number of sessions is not reduced.

???"

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Teams agree on revised Sprint weekend format

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