Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has revealed the British Grand Prix will follow the new sprint race format being agreed for 2021.
After three previous attempts to replace qualifying with a reverse grid sprint race failed, F1 bosses changed tack for the fourth by dropping the reverse grid element that some saw as too artificial.
And that move appears to have worked, with teams giving an initial tentative go-ahead last month pending more research and a final vote expected as soon as this week.
“We are finalising the intricacies of it [the sprint race], with those details due to be discussed further at a meeting in Bahrain on Thursday,” Domenicali said via the Daily Mail.
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“For sure we do not want to take away the prestige of the Grand Prix itself, that will remain the climax of the weekend.
“We will have the qualifying on Friday and then ‘sprint qualifying’ on Saturday. It will provide some meaningful action the day before the race. It will give fans, media and broadcasters more content.
“It will last about half an hour. There will be no podium celebration, that will wait until Sunday, but points will be awarded – how many is yet to be decided – towards the world championship and determine the grid for the race itself.”
Initially, it was expected the Canadian, Italian and Brazilian GP’s would be the three races chosen to trial the format.
However, Domenicali dropped a bit of a bombshell, declaring: “What I can also say is that Silverstone will hold a sprint race.”
Whether that’s a sign the Canadian GP is at risk of being cancelled for the second straight year due to Covid-19 is unknown.
But Silverstone chief Stuart Pringle was quick to respond positively to the possibility.
“If F1 should decide that Silverstone is the right venue for a sprint race then we would be totally supportive of that and feel it would be a fantastic spectacle for the fans,” he told Sky Sports.