F1 has tweaked its sprint race gimmick for F1 2023 with the introduction of a second qualifying session, replacing the tedious FP2 session on Sꦡaturday morning.

This means that Sat෴urday is completely standalone from the rest of the w💜eekend, with the result of the sprint no longer having an impact on Sunday.

It now means all three days of running will be meaningf𒆙ul as teams have just 60 minutes to get their cars ready for conventional qualifying on Friday.

All the drivers present in the FIA press conference ahead of this weekend’s 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix were asked for their thoughts on the new format.

• F1 sprint race: What are thꦚe ღrules? What is the new 2023 format?

Here’s what they had to say…

Lewis Hamilton

“Absolutely, It will be tough for everybody,” he said. “But we’re all in the same boat. What a track to do it at - where overt▨aking is possible. 

“We always have great races here. It is definitely difficult🌄 to do 20 laps then straight into▨ qualifying.”

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Carlos Sainz

“The shootout quali will be difficult, especial😼ly waking up in the morning⛎ and going straight into Q1,” Sainz explained. 

“I n🔴eed to do a good warm-up, mega cold shower, make sure I’m really woken up for pushing flat out in one of the꧒se cars, bumpy cars on the straight, first thing in the morning – it will be intense.

“Then the sprint, 17 laps... It’s exciting. I think m🎉ore racing, more important laps in the weekend, obviously it’s tougher both mentally and physically for us, but if it makes the fans happy, and the media happy, and makes the product better, we will do it.”

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Valtteri Bottas

“Saturday will be a proper day,” Bottas commented. “But more demanding mentally, ev🐻⛎en physically. You need to be switched on all weekend. But, I think it’s good.”

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris

“I would expect so,” he added. “There’s still the budget cap, you don’t want to damage the car in any way, you don’t want to do anyth๊ing silly. Especially for us, when we’re wanting to improve the car as much as possible, ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚthe least amount of damage that we can cause the better. But I’m excited.

“I think it’s a better format, I prefer it a long way comparing to what we had before. More room, more opportunities for everyone. I like the fact you have 🐽two qualifyings, I love the format of practice and qualifying on Friday. The pressure is definitely highꦗer, but I enjoy it more.”

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Esteban Ocon

“It’s exciting,” Ocon said. “It’s cool to have more racing, a more exciting weekend – but maybe not every weekend. That will be someth🐼ing to look out for. On the other hand, I think as a driver, it’s great that you got straight into that Sprint Shootout qualifying without practice before.

“It could bring some uncertainty, some drivers that are noꦍt going to be awake, that are going to make mistakes, and it’s not going to be the same. We’ll see. That brings opportunities and brings skills to the driver, more impor♔tantly, so I look forward to that.”

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Kevin Magnussen

“It’s more exciting, there’s more stuff happening,” he concluded. “Not that a normal weekend is boring in any way, but there’s a lot of running that doesn’t count for anything, and having most of the sessions in th✅e weekend be counting for something I think is cool.”