The Chinese Grand Prix sees the return of the Sprint Race format for the first time in 2024.
Max Verstappen unsurprisingly had the best record in last season’s Sprint weekends, although the event in Qatar did hand Oscar Piastri his first victory in F1, albeit not an official one.
Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, Damon Hill was previewing this weekend’s race.
The 2024 season has seen four consecutive one-two finishes which has never happened before at the start of a campaign.
The race in Shanghai provides drivers with two opportunities to taste victory, although only the top three on Sunday will get to stand on the podium.
There’s also been a change in the format of the Sprint weekend that’s being debuted at the Chinese Grand Prix and Damon Hill believes that will be of real benefit to Fernando Alonso.
The experienced Spaniard has been in the headlines since the previous race in Japan after extending his contract at Aston Martin.
The £275,000-a-week driver would love to follow up that news with a positive result in Shanghai.
Damon Hill thinks Fernando Alonso will love the new Sprint weekend format
There hasn’t been a huge amount of change to the format of the Sprint weekend, but it does now follow a more logical order.
Drivers will still only have one practice session to prepare for the weekend before taking part in Sprint qualifying rather than normal qualifying like before.
The first session on Saturday is the Sprint Race and then the weekend follows the normal format, with qualifying that afternoon and the main race on Sunday,
Hill believes that the lack of preparation time in a Sprint event is perfect for Alonso.
Team ambassador Pedro De La Rosa went one step further and suggested he doesn’t even need the one hour of practice beforehand.
READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2
Fernando Alonso’s experience could be key at Chinese Grand Prix
Speaking about the Sprint format, Hill said: “I think that any time that the format is turned on its head, there’s opportunity.
“It’s a bit like when it rains or something like that, I think you’ve got more chance… it’s not good if you’re at the front because you want to preserve your position, you want to protect and you want all things to be equal because then you know you’re going to be quick.
“But if you’ve got uncertainty, I think that a great opportunity for people who ordinarily – people like Fernando [Alonso] – I’m sure he’ll love it.”
De La Rosa added: “I’m sure for Fernando, what he actually would like is to go directly into qualifying!
“I mean, he sometimes mentions it that he doesn’t need to warm up, he doesn’t need another set of tyres to go faster.
“He’s just bang, the first lap, that’s it, that’s the fastest he will be the whole weekend because he doesn’t need to get up to speed.”
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Aston Martin need both drivers to kick on take the fight to Mercedes
The Sprint Race in China provides Alonso with two opportunities to score points and after underestimating him in Japan, Hill appears confident the 42-year-old will do well again this weekend.
He’s scored points at every race this season and Aston Martin are only a point behind Mercedes at this stage.
However, Lance Stroll has had a tougher time in 2024, crashing out in Saudi Arabia and having a torrid time in Japan, missing out on the top ten after an awful qualifying session.
The Canadian faces a very big problem up against his teammate and while he’s not officially been confirmed for next year, it would be a surprise to see his father Lawrence Stroll let him go.
The likes of Carlos Sainz have been linked with Aston Martin and the idea of the two Spaniards driving alongside each other would be incredibly exciting.
It looks very unlikely to happen though and team principal Mike Krack will instead be hoping Stroll can improve on his best-ever finish of 12 in China to help Aston Martin out.
The post ‘He’ll love it’: Damon Hill believes £275k-a-week driver will be delighted with Chinese GP Sprint format appeared first on F1 Oversteer.