Hamilton calls for more track time in new Sprint weekend format

Lewis Hamilton believes that the new Sprint format introduced at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix could have featured more track time.

The first-ever Sprint Shootout replaced Free Practice 2 on Saturday morning, with the session deciding the grid for the Sprint later in the day.

With the Shootout taking place at 12:30 local time, there was a gap in the action until the Sprint was held at 17:30 local time, and Hamilton feels that this could have allowed for an extra session.

"There was four hours waiting between sessions today," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.com, after the Sprint in Baku.

"I think today we could have done at least three sessions.

"I don't know if that's possible."

However, when asked about the tyre allocation used during the Sprint Shootout – where drivers use one set of Mediums for each of the first two Shootout sessions, followed by the Softs for the final session – Hamilton sounded a positive note.

"People did improve [on the second lap on the Soft]," the Mercedes driver said.

"I thought it was cool. I like qualifying."

Hamilton finished the Sprint race in seventh after starting from P6 on the grid.