Formula 1 planning two qualifying sessions for Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Planet Sport writer
- 9 April 2023
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali revealed new plans to make race weekends more exciting ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Even though Formula 1 has already implemented several plans to try and make the entire race weekend more exciting for fans and spectators, such as sprint qualifying, the organisation isn't yet satisfied with the results.
After a meeting between all of the Formula 1 teams, Domenicali revealed a new plan to liven up race weekends even more, starting with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this season.
Under the new rules, Saturday's second free practice session would be used as qualifying for the sprint race while Friday's sprint qualifying session will instead be used to determine the order in Sunday's race.
It is definitely an indication of future plans too after Domenicali admitted that he fully supports the cancellation of all free practice sessions because he believes "the public does not like them".
However, he did admit to Sky Deutschland: "Of course, the drivers need time to practice."
"But the people in the stands come to see power and performance.
"The more often you give the teams and drivers the chance to show who they are, the better the show is.
"Together with the drivers and teams we are thinking about what could be the best plan for that," the F1 CEO added.
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is particularly pleased with the changes.
"Stefano put a little bit more of his vision out there for the future because that is what he has to do for FOM - have a vision, where are we going?" Steiner said.
