Explained: New F1 format quirk rules two drivers out of SQ3

That is due to both drivers having no new soft tyres left to use, having opted to use up their allocation throughout practice and Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying on Friday. 

Norris qualified seventh for Sunday’s race in Baku in his heavily updated McLaren, while Tsunoda claimed AlphaTauri’s best qualifying result of the season in eighth. Both used up their final set of new softs in Q3. 

The revised sprint weekend regulations state that one set of new medium tyres must be used in each of SQ1 and SQ2, with one set of new soft tyres used in SQ3 of Saturday morning’s new ‘Sprint Shootout’. 

“In the period SQ3 of the sprint shootout, up to one set of dry-weather tyres may be used, and this must only be a new set of the soft specification,” the rule says. 

With Norris and Tsunoda already using all six sets of their soft tyres for the weekend, they will not be able to participate in SQ3 - if they get that far. 

Should they reach SQ3, Norris and Tsunoda would be forced to remain in their garages with their starting positions of ninth and 10th dictated by their previous lap times. 

The rule quirk effectively enables teams to make strategic calls in an attempt to prioritise the grand prix over the sprint race. 

Pirelli’s head of motorsport Mario Isola suggested the rule is likely to be altered for future events. 

“If you look at the regulation you are obliged to use a new set of tyres,” he said. “Obviously it’s a new regulation and it’s probably needed to do some fine-tuning.”