So, I think it’s quite clear that Sprints are here to stay. Like them or loathe them, they are unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon.
Therefore, I’d like to hear what others’ would like to see in terms of format. Please, no “get rid of them”, we get enough of that elsewhere.
Here’s my latest idea. This would ideally be run at _every_ weekend.
Friday: Sprint day Make the first session of the weekend Sprint Qualifying. Give every driver a slot, and allow then a small number of laps to set the fastest time they can. No practice beforehand, but no parc ferme afterwards.
For order, I would go with championship order (leader first). However, I’d also be happy with a random order. I wouldn’t be happy with giving the leaders an advantage by letting them run last.
Run the sprint in the second Friday session.
Saturday Sunday: As a normal non-sprint weekend now, FP Qually Saturday, race on Sunday.
Championships: Run the Sprint as its own championship, giving points to every finisher, 20 points for first, 1 for 20th. Have a separate ceremony and prize money.
However, the final results should also be treated as the equivalent of one race result for the WDC and WCC (i.e. the winner gets 25 points, and count-back applies below 10th). This would ensure it still had some value in the main championship, so the teams all through the grid still have an incentive to put effort into it.