Lando Norris is expecting a free-for-all in the Sprint this afternoon with the result having no bearing on the starting grid for Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Sprints were previously used to decide the starting order for the race whenever the format was used. But it has now been changed, with teams previously reluctant to take many risks when the cost of a crash would be so high.
So now, the starting grid for the main race is already set in stone after qualifying on Friday. It gives racers more of an incentive to go for it in the Sprint as there is now less jeopardy involved.
Norris is pretty confident in his opinion about what this will mean for the event. When asked if other drivers are going to be more aggressive as a result, the McLaren star replied: "I would expect so.
"You know, there's still a budget cap. So you don't want to damage the car in any way. You don't do anything silly. Especially for us, when we're wanting to improve the car as much as possible, the least amount of damage we can cause, the better.
"But I'm excited. I think it's a better format. I prefer it a long way compared to what we had before. So you have more room, more opportunities for everyone. I like the fact that you have two qualifyings. I love the format of practice, qualifying on Friday. So the pressure is definitely higher. But yeah, I enjoy it more."
Norris will start the Sprint 10th after making it to Q3, but he had no fresh sets of soft tyres left to be able to take part in that session. The Brit knows he will have to make up at least two places over the 17 laps to get into the points positions.
Alex Albon is another who is hoping to spring a surprise. The Williams ace has shown great pace so far this weekend and qualified seventh for the Baku Sprint. Speaking to Mirror Sport on Thursday, he declared that "carnage" is likely the only way he and his team will be able to secure points.
"If [the top] four teams don't crash it's kind of a bit boring for everyone else in that Sprint race and there is not much to win," he said. "Of course, we are going to try and beat those four teams, but we know how difficult it is to beat them and we would have to rely on a little bit of carnage for it to happen."
