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Exclusive with Ross Brawn: Formula 1 open to tweaking Sprint Qualifying format

Formula 1's Managing Director Ross Brawn has said that, while Sprint Qualifying was a success at Silverstone, the sport is open to tweaking the format for the future.

Ross Brawn was thrilled with how the inaugural Sprint Qualifying race unfolded at Silverstone , with the British venue playing host to the first session serving as a new qualifying format that is being trialed by Formula 1. The Formula 1 Managing Director has been a vocal proponent of the format ever since it was first proposed last year, and has said that they are open to discussing tweaks to how a Sprint Qualifying weekend is run. He ruled out any such changes happening this season, and that any such tweaks would have to happen if the format is approved for some rounds next season. Put to him by RacingNews365 that perhaps some tweaking to the points system, which awards three points to the driver in first, two to the driver in second, and one to the driver in third, to offer some more motivation to drivers throughout the rest of the field, Brawn explained there is some reluctance to give away too many championship points for what is simply a qualifying session. "We started with more points and we arrived at the points we have now because we were a little concerned if the sprint ended up deciding the championship, late in the year," Brawn explained. "So if you had 10 points for the sprint... our initial proposal was a third because there's a third of a race so we'd offer a third of the points. But I think that's something that can be discussed. I wouldn't say it is locked in at the moment, it's certainly locked in for this year. But I think, if we go forward with this, there will definitely be on the points to discuss whether we should make it more attractive to score more points. But that's an open one for the future." One obvious issue over the British GP weekend was the fact that the FP2 session, held on Saturday morning after the Friday Qualifying session had already happened, was largely rendered moot due to parc ferme conditions. With the cars locked into their setups, the session consisted of the teams evaluating tyres ahead of the Sprint Qualifying, with no ability to change anything on the car. "On FP2, perhaps some of the slight frustration is because it's parc ferme and they can't do anything to the cars so I think that would be a point that we could discuss with the teams and the FIA as a future tweak," Brawn explained. "So, in my mind, we should have FP2, there was plenty of running going on. It gave the fans some engagement and they saw cars running around. I think the teams when they look back on it, will have found it a very useful period, and I think everyone needs to reflect a bit on the weekend. We can sit there with the teams and the FIA and decide what bits need tweaking."

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