Christian Horner and the Red Bull camp have been vocal in their opposition to some F1 decisions over the past few days
F1 is considering making further changes to the sprint race format at the upcoming F1 Commission meeting today with the possibility of a second parce ferme becoming part of the race weekend structure. This will come as a relief to Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who described the rules regarding making changes to cars as ‘a joke’.
The F1 Commission meeting that took place on Monday already created some concrete changes for the 2024 season with a new sprint weekend format concocted. Under the new layout, Friday will contain the FP1 and the sprint shootout, which will be followed by the sprint race and then qualifying on Saturday. The Grand Prix will remain on Sunday.
According to a report from Motorsport.com, to go along with these changes, teams could be afforded a second parc ferme window. Previously, any changes made after the sprint shootout would force teams to start their driver from the pitlane during the Grand Prix.
The previous sprint weekend parc ferme rules were extremely unpopular. Expressing his frustrations last year, Horner said: “For me, parc ferme is a bit of a joke. You have one session to set your car up. And then the engineers may as well go home at that point.
So, that needs looking at and that I’m sure was a contributing factor to the ride height issues of the teams that fell foul of the regulations. Effectively, it’s just a long run on a sprint race. And there’s no real jeopardy to it, there’s no real incentive behind it.”
So, that needs looking at and that I’m sure was a contributing factor to the ride height issues of the teams that fell foul of the regulations. Effectively, it’s just a long run on a sprint race. And there’s no real jeopardy to it, there’s no real incentive behind it.”
Both drivers would have likely escaped unscathed if the teams had been able to make setup changes after the sprint shootout session. This won’t be a recurring issue if the proposed changes are rubber-stamped at the F1 Commission meeting later this week.
The adapted schedule will allow for the first parc ferme to cover the sprint shootout and the sprint race with teams then allowed to make tweaks to their setups ahead of a second parc ferme, which would cover the qualifying session and the Grand Prix.
