Format changes, Sprint updates, DRS tweaks. What regs are new in 2024? We tell all.
With the 2024 season under way, there are a number of new regulations for the teams and fans to learn.
Here are some of the changes to watch out this season.
DRS (Drag Reduction System) will now be available after one complete lap following the start or a safety car restart. This is a shift from the previous two-lap window.
What was called Sprint Shootout will now be known as Sprint Qualifying – this will continue to set the grid for the Sprint Race.
Along with Sprint Qualifying, the bigger change is to the format of a Sprint weekend. It will now follow a more conventional format so that the Sprint and full race elements remain separate.
Friday will now see Free Practice 1 followed by the Sprint Qualifying.
Saturday hosts the Sprint Race before Qualifying for the full race.
Sunday remains the same with the full race.
As well as the new changes to the Sprint weekend format, there will now be two parcs fermes instead of one. The first begins from leaving Sprint Qualifying until the start of the Sprint Race and the second is from leaving for Qualifying until the start of the full race.
This changes the conditions from last season where there was only one parc ferme which lasted from the start of Qualifying on Friday afternoon. That made it incredibly challenging to lock in set-up for the whole weekend after just one hour of practice running.
One change that might go a little under the radar is the fact that the cars will be on the grid for 10 minutes less than in previous years. This has been done to after the time on the grid was extended last year to accommodate a number of pre-race ceremonies.