Changes to F1 weekend timetable for 2022 ... Pit Walk eliminatedWhat will the new F1 weekend schedule look like?
F1 historically operated to four-day (Thursday-Sunday) schedules - and five days, namely Wednesday to Sunday, for Monaco - with the opening day in each case featuring media and administrative sessions and track activities commencing Fridays. From this year all events, including, crucially, the Principality's race, feature three-day schedules, with non-essential personnel not gaining paddock access on Thursdays.
Thus, no pitlane walkabouts for fans, with Monaco visitors being particularly hard hit...
The result is that Grand Prix weekends will start Friday morning, with ancillary stuff such as documentation, meetings and media sessions taking teams through to around midday depending upon specific timings for an event. Thereafter two free practice sessions - each of 90-minute duration and separated by at least two hours - will take place.
At most venues the first free practice session is expected to start at 13:00 local time, with FP2 run from 17:00 to 18:30. These sessions will be followed by further media activities and meetings/briefings, potentially keeping personnel trackside for 12 (or more) hours at a stretch. The good news - particularly for fans at events - is that F1 is reverting to two 90-minute sessions in place of 2021's two one-hour practices.
Then, according to the revised regulations, "a further free practice session (P3), lasting one hour and starting no less than seventeen-and-a-half hours after the end of P2, will take place on the day before the race", so from 12:00 on Saturday. The regulations continue: "The qualifying practice session will take place on the day before the race and start no less than two hours after the end of P3", so 15:00 (or later).
Qualifying follows the familiar structure and timings, so Q1 lasting 18 minutes with the bottom five cars eliminated (20 car entry), followed by a 15-minute Q2 session commencing seven minutes after the end of Q1. The final 10 cars will then go through to a Q3 of 12-minute duration. The Grand Prix proper shall not start later than four hours before official sunset, so usually 15:00.
However, the regulations make provision for driver interaction with fans: "Within a one-hour period finishing no later than one hour and 30 minutes before P3, all drivers must be available for fan activities (including, but not limited to, autograph sessions and fan forums) for a maximum period of 15 minutes each within the hour."
Three days packed full of F1 action, on and off the track
Accordingly, a typical weekend schedule during the 2022 F1 season will be:
Friday
09:00 – Media/documentation/scrutineering
13:00-14:30 – FP1
15:00-16:00 – Team representative media session
17:00-18:30 – FP2
19:00 onwards – Media/briefings
Saturday
09:00-10:30 – Driver/fan interaction, autographs (each team minimum 15 minutes)
12:00-13:00 – FP3
15:00-16:00 – Qualifying
17:00 onwards – Media/briefings
Sunday
13:30 – Driver parade
15:00 – Race start
18:00 – Media
Note: exact timings will vary within permitted parameters, particularly for dusk/night races.
The bottom line is that F1 believes the revised formats will this year save at least 24 days – two days for Monaco and one per each of the 22 'traditional' Grands Prix, in turn potentially saving teams hotel costs while enabling most personnel to enjoy additional time off between races. The downside for promoters is that tourism potential is reduced a day (at least) per race weekend.
These 'off' days may not translate to domestic time - particularly where flyaways and back-to-backs are concerned - but should make for less interim hectic while permitting a modicum of relaxation. The flipside is that Liberty may well decide to grow calendars even further, arguing that three-day formats are the silver bullet to 25 or more events…
https://racingnews365.com/f1-makes-majo ... e-for-2022