Piastri in favour of Baku Sprint format change

Oscar Piastri has voiced his support for plans to change the Sprint format for the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix next weekend.

For the first Sprint event of the season, it has been proposed that the second practice session be replaced with another qualifying session.

That would make the Sprint entirely separate from the grand prix itself.

It’s a change that eliminates meaningless running, as Free Practice 2 had become on a Sprint weekend while separating the two competitive encounters.

A limitation of the previous format has been the risk of dropping down the order for the start of the grand prix because of a mistake or incident in the Sprint.

Under the new format, those concerns are eliminated, with both the Sprint and grand prix having discreet qualifying sessions.

However, the trade-off is reduced practice time for drivers, with just 60 minutes of running on Friday before the weekend’s competitive action begins.

“It definitely doesn’t make my life any easier not having more practice sessions,” Piastri observed of the proposed Sprint format.

“But it’s the same for everyone in terms of track time, so that’s not a concern.

“If they do go ahead with that plan… I think that’s probably better because the way it is at the moment, not that I’ve done one, but it kind of just looks like there’s two races that are more or less the same.

“Obviously, no one wants to take too much risk in the Sprint race the way it is at the moment.

“I think having two separate qualifying sessions; it’s a little bit more like how F2 and F3 is at the moment where you have the Sprint race – okay, it’s reverse grid, but similar kind of idea – where whatever happens in the sprint race doesn’t affect the main race.

“I think that will be better for the entertainment and be able to take more risks.

“Obviously, at Baku, too, street circuit has potential for carnage, but I think if they were to go with that format, I’d be happy with that.”

Teams are expected to vote on the revised format in the days leading up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with any changes rushed through a vote by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.