In its first meeting attended by the new FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the F1 Commission announced changes to the Sprint competition format, which had its successful inaugural season in 2021/22.

The proposed changes

Name change

From the 2022/23 season, the official session name for what was known as “Sprint Qualifying” will be changed to the simple “Sprint”. When one takes into account the substance of the proposed changes, it’s easy to spot why.

Points awarded

By way of a departure from the 3-2-1 point format, under the new rules, the top 8 drivers in the Sprint will receive points counting towards the 2022 World Drivers’ Championship, as follows:

1st place – 8 points

2nd place – 7 points

3rd place – 6 points

4th place – 5 points

5th place – 4 points

6th place – 3 points

7th place – 2 points

8th place – 1 point

Sunday qualification

The Pole Position for the Grand Prix on Sunday will be awarded to the fastest driver in Qualifying on Friday, meaning that the Friday session will set the results for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix.

The 2022 sprint races

After an unanimous decision by the F1 Commission on the races which will feature a Sprint event, the weekends which would see the implementation of the above changes for the 2022/23 season are:

• Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (22 – 24 April 2022)
• Austrian Grand Prix (8 – 10 July 2022)
• Brazilian Grand Prix (11 – 13 November 2022)

All proposed changes were approved by the World Motor Sport Council and implemented through changes to Articles 39 through 43 of Issue 4 of the F1 Sporting Regulations, published on 18 February 2022.