Formula 1 has made significant changes to the sprint race weekend format for the year 2024. One of the drivers, Max Verstappen, has expressed his approval of these changes. He believes that the new format brings more logic to the events and addresses some of the previous concerns. Verstappen also mentioned that hosting a sprint race in China may not have been the wisest decision, but he now feels that the new format makes more sense. One of the issues with the old format was that teams had to immediately go into qualifying after the first practice, which negatively impacted their weekends.
Verstappen also pointed out that there is always an element of uncertainty during sprint weekends. This is especially true for the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, as it will be the first time that ground-effect era challengers will run on the Shanghai circuit. Despite this, Verstappen is not overly worried and is confident in the performance of his RB20 car, which has been designed with radical changes.
The Chinese Grand Prix is returning after a five-year hiatus, making the entire weekend challenging for drivers who have never raced there before. Verstappen believes that the conditions will be unknown and highlighted that the track has been repainted, not re-asphalted. This raises uncertainty about the grip of the track, and Red Bull will need to manage this effectively. Verstappen emphasized the importance of a strong FP1 session to establish a good setup for the car.
Teams will have only one practice session to fine-tune their setup before the sprint weekend. This presents a great challenge for all the teams on the grid. Red Bull is expected to deliver a dominant performance, with Ferrari potentially coming close in second place based on their recent performances.