Formula 1: "sprint qualifying" on Saturdays for 3 Grands Prix in 2021

Three Grands Prix on the 2021 Formula One calendar, including "two European venues and one non-European one", will host "sprint qualifying", a new format of shortened races that will take place on Saturday and provide the grid rankings for the Sunday Grand Prix, announced Formula One Management and the FIA on 26/04/2021. The new format was unanimously adopted by all 10 F1 teams.

While Formula One Management has not specified which events will host the sprint qualifying, the British (Silverstone), Italian (Monza) and Brazilian (Sao Paulo) Grands Prix are said to be in discussions to host them, according to British media. Sprint qualifying, which has been used in Formula 2 and Formula 3 for several seasons, is being tested for the first time in the elite class.

For these three GPs, the traditional qualifying session (Q1/Q2/Q3) will no longer take place on Saturday afternoon, but on Friday in the early afternoon, using soft tyres only. The classification of this qualifying session will give the starting grid for the sprint qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. The final…