Exciting changes to F1 Sprint format confirmed for 2023 season

Apr 29, 2023

Updated • Apr 28, 2023

Misc

We are one day away from the big F1 Azerbaijan GP 2023 race, and recently, the F1 board made an important announcement about the upcoming races. From now on, F1 Sprint will be a standalone feature of race weekends, and it won't have any impact on the grid for the Grand Prix itself.

F1 Azerbaijan GP 2023 race will take place on Sunday after the qualifying and Sprint sessions. Last year, the Sprint grid was determined by qualifying, and its result decided the GP grid that takes place on Sundays. Starting this week, there will be two different Sprint races. F1 added a new "Sprint Shootout" race that aims to create an independent event on Saturday.

It is created to hold an independent Saturday event for the drivers and fans. The second training sessions on Saturdays were always criticized for being unnecessary in many ways, so the F1 board has come up with a quick and easy solution to fix that.

Sprint shootout will take place on Saturday morning and will run for 17 laps, which will be around 30 minutes. Later that day, we will be able to watch the Sprint race in the afternoon.

How to watch F1 Azerbaijan GP 2023: Live streams and TV broadcasts

With the new format, the entertainment level has shifted gears for F1 races. Starting with F1 Azerbaijan GP 2023, we will see this new format five more times. If you want to watch F1 Azerbaijan GP 2023 and see how the new format will be on Saturday and the big race on Sunday, you have two options, TV or online live streams.

Some of the most known TV channels, like ESPN, ABC, Fox Sports, and Sky Sports, will air F1 Sprint and the big race on TV. However, you can also follow the race through live streams. ESPN+, Fubo, NOW TV, and TSN Direct will be broadcasting the event from start to end. Moreover, all of the broadcasts are in English, so you will understand every word on the stream!

Unfortunately, some of these live streams have geo-restrictions, which makes it impossible for user from certain parts of the world to watch them directly. However, there is a very easy fix for that issue. You can use VPN services to eliminate the issue and watch the race without any freezes or other issues. You can take a look at NordVPN, which offers a 63% discount for yearly memberships. ExpressVPN and Surfshark are also two of the other solid options that you might want to check out!