Norris wants a one-off qualifying session on the F1 sprint weekends

F1 completed the third of its sprint races in Brazil this weekend, with the spectacle in Interlagos being reinforced by the attack from world champion Lewis Hamilton from behind.

As the F1 bosses are now talking to the teams about possible optimizations for the six sprints planned for 2022, the focus is mainly on what needs to be done in view of the second practice session on Saturday morning.

The one-hour run after qualifying and before the sprint race has been criticized as being irrelevant to the fans – although it is useful for the teams in terms of tire data collection.

Norris believes that practice should be completely abolished and instead replaced by a one-time qualifying session, which defines the starting grid for the sprint.

“What I might add is to change it so that you qualify for Sunday’s race on Friday,” explained Norris.

“Then there is a one-shot qualifying for the sprint race on Saturday on Saturday morning. So a one-shot qualifying like in the past.

“I think that could be exciting instead of the FP2 that we are doing now. That’s why you set up Saturday a bit separately, I think. So the sprint would not mean anything for the Sunday race.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A521, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521 and the rest of the field at the start

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

F1 experimented with a variety of single-lap qualifying formats from 2003 to 2005 but was never able to agree on a system that worked well for teams and fans.

As of 2006, efforts to find a solution were abandoned and Formula 1 adopted the current elimination format for Q1, Q2 and Q3, which has proven to be good.

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F1 Motorsport General Manager Ross Brawn says F1 is looking at what rule changes can be made to sprint races for 2022.

However, he is reluctant to agree to an overhaul of the sprint rules, aside from the option of offering more championship points to give drivers more incentive to race.

“We are undoubtedly discussing with the teams how Saturday could be made a little more demanding, a little more exciting,” he explained.

“I’m very optimistic that the new cars will help because they can drive each other. And there is discussion of how we can increase the rewards for a Saturday so that there is a lot more incentive to race on Saturdays. ” of points.

“I think reverse grids probably, I’d be very happy, I have to say. But I think it might be a step too far. But there are a few things that are up for discussion.”