Sprint qualifying race debuts at Silverstone

SILVERSTONE: As fans return to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, Formula One will welcome them with a jazzed up format that adds ‘the Sprint’, effectively an extra race, today.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton predicts that the Sprint will be “a train.”

“The race remains on Sunday (tomorrow),” said Jean Todt, the president of the FIA, the governing body of motorsports.

The race opened late yesterday with the practice session, followed by qualifying.

Instead of deciding the grid for the main race, qualifying will sort out the starting order for a mini-race today.

The Sprint will last 25-30 minutes and be run over 100km, which at Silverstone means 17 laps. That compares with 52 laps and just over 306km for the race itself tomorrow.

F1 describes it as “a short and fast-paced racing spectacle — similar to a Twenty20 cricket match — with drivers racing flat-out from start to finish without the need to pit.”

In addition to determining tomorrow’s grid positions, the sprint offers a small number of championship points: three for first, two for second and one for third.

Not everyone is convinced the Sprint will provide “100 kilometres of action.”

“It’s going to be a train, probably,” said Hamilton.

“Hopefully, there’ll be some overtaking, but it most likely won’t be too exciting.”

Todt said he was “not a big fan” and does not want to call the Sprint a race.

“I don’t think Formula 1 needs it,” he said.

“On the other side, if people want to try something, it’s not going to hurt the race on Sunday. “It costs nothing to try.”

The format is still an experiment, which F1 intends to repeat at Monza in September and at one other race.