Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon have backed the proposal to overhaul Formula 1’s Sprint format and more potential freedom on parc ferme regulations.
Last year changes to the Sprint schedule included introducing a second qualifying session, Sprint Shootout, in place of FP2 to separate Sprint sessions from the grand prix.
However, the revised schedule remained unfavourable after a series of mundane races that revealed the performance trends of the cars prior to Sunday’s main encounter.
Having granted its approval for more alterations to be submitted in December, the F1 Commission proposed earlier this week that Sprint qualifying be moved to Friday after the opening practice session, with Saturday’s action to begin with the Sprint before grand prix qualifying in its usual spot.
That comes after several instances last year where teams had to revert their cars to a pit lane start due to heading down a wrong set-up direction following the sole practice hour and being unable to implement remedies.
With the Sprint sessions set to be held earlier in the weekend, it is touted that parc ferme restrictions could be lifted before grand prix qualifying to facilitate any further changes.
Asked about the possibility of loosened rules on revisions to the cars during the Sprint weekends, Gasly said at the launch of Alpine’s 2024 car, the A524: “I think that’s great, I think that was missing definitely.
“We ended up last year having amazing, brilliant, genius guys on a Friday afternoon being forbidden to touch anything on our car. That’s why they are paid for and that’s why they are the best. It was a bit sad because they have much more to bring to the table than just one or two clicks of front flap and tyre pressure.
“I think it’s definitely F1 is the top of engineering and I think we [should] still give them the opportunity to always have these continuous improvements through the weekend.”
The Frenchman admitted there was “frustration” when the engineers knew tweaks to improve the car but couldn’t make them without sacrificing grid position.
“You don’t have time to try anything because in one hour practice you’re quite limited so it was always like try to do the work in the simulator and if you realise you didn’t start the weekend with the best set-up your window to react was extremely small,” he explained. “So, no, I think as a sport, it was definitely the right change.”
The Sprint format came under heightened scrutiny at the 2023 United States Grand Prix following Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s post-race disqualifications.
Mercedes claimed the lack of practice time to dial in a set-up on a Sprint weekend contributed as it was denied the chance to discover its ride height would wear the plank beyond the mandated amount across a race.
Ocon, who was withdrawn to the pit lane in Baku, was similarly enthusiastic about the mooted proposal, citing that it should eradicate the risk of repeating that situation.
“Yeah, it would be good,” Ocon added. “To do a Sprint Shootout and then close the parc ferme to do the Sprint race, that’s good, and then reopen it before qualifying I think that’s what we should be doing. It would be much more interesting as a weekend. And we would see a lot less mistakes with stupid things like plank wear and stuff.”
The Commission’s submission means this remains a change agreed in principle, with their proposition to be presented to the World Motorsport Council on 28 February.
F1 announced in December that it would retain six Sprints in 2024, with China and Miami to host those select weekends along with Austria, Austin, Brazil and Qatar.
