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The format of Sprint qualifying was first introduced in the 2021 season and is a new way of deciding the starting grid position.

There is no Q1/Q2/Q3 approach in sprint qualifying and it is held on Friday instead of the traditional Saturday. The drivers are given a little less time to place themselves as high as possible.

The Sprint qualifying session is held for 100 minutes instead of the traditional 120. The drivers are provided with three sets of tires for Sprint, instead of the usual four.

The results of the Sprint qualifying determine the starting grid for the sprint race which is held on Saturday. This race is a shorter form of an F1 race with a distance of 100 km. The results of the Sprint race set the starting grid for the main race on Sunday.

FIA planned to tweak the existing law back in 2016 by hitting away from the elaborated knockout round stated above to an elimination-style format, where every 90 seconds a driver drops out.

There were still three sessions, but the timings were changed and only eight drivers made it through to Q3. However, this new reform had no fame among drivers and fans, who all demanded the previous method be restored.

The authorities were compelled to bring back the current qualifying round just after two races, with the elimination format being scrapped.