Formula 1 (F1) teams have rejected a late attempt by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) to close an unexpected loophole in the tyre rules for the revised sprint format. The new standalone ‘Sprint Shootout’ will determine the grid for the sprint itself on Saturday, with mandatory tyre sets having to be used in SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3 respectively – mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, softs for SQ3.
However, the rule in its current form does not oblige F1 teams to keep a new set of soft tyres for Saturday’s shortened qualifying format for the sprint. The regulation states that “up to one set of dry-weather tyres may be used” in the period SQ3 of the sprint shootout, and that this must only be a new set of the soft specification.
