F1 sprint is set for its biggest ever season this year with six sprint races on the calendar for 2023 - doubling the amount from 2022 and 2021. The 100km Saturday dash, first introduced at the British Grand Prix in 2021, has proven popular with teams and fans alike and will be present at more than a quarter of Grand Prix weekends during the 23-race season. Why F1’s sprint shake-up could be the beginning of the end for Max Verstappen There was an unanimous agreement to increase the number of sprint events amongst F1 teams at a meeting of the F1 commission meeting last year, following discussions with the FIA and a vote amongst the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC). As it was last year, the F1 sprint is a 100km race with no mandatory pit stops and drivers racing flat-out to the chequered flag. As it was in the 2022 season, the top eight drivers score points, with the driver who finishes P1 receiving eight points. How does the sprint race work? The F1 Commission and the FIA have approved new sprint weekend format changes which will see an extra qualifying session added to the schedule. The new order of play sees a new ‘sprint shootout’ take place on Saturday morning instead of a second practice session, with traditional qualifying on Friday now setting the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. It means there will be just one practice session over the course of the weekend, while Saturday is designated ‘sprint day’. The result of the Saturday sprint – a 100km dash, roughly a third of the distance of the grand prix – will not impact the grid for Sunday, as opposed to the past two years. Points will be awarded to the top-eight, as was the case in 2022. But now, that Friday qualifying session will take on added weight as it will set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix, regardless of what happens in Saturday’s sprint race. On Saturday, instead of what was seen as a generally pointless second practice session on Saturday, a new ‘sprint shootout’ will take place to form the starting grid for the sprint race later in the day. It will follow the same Q1-Q2-Q3 format but the session times will be shorter than traditional qualifying: Q1 will be 12 minutes, Q2 will be 10 minutes and Q3 will be eight minutes. NEW SPRINT WEEKEND FORMAT Friday: Free Practice 1; qualifying (for Sunday’s Grand Prix) Saturday: Sprint qualifying; sprint race (Top-eight receive points, finish order will have no impact on Grand Prix grid) Sunday: Grand Prix How many points are on offer? P1 - Eight points P2 - Seven points P3 - Six points P4 - Five points P5 - four points P6 - three points P7 - two points P8 - one point Where will the sprint races take place this season? There will be six sprint races this season, including at three of the final six Grand Prix weekends. ROUND 4 - AZERBAIJAN Baku City Circuit - 28-30 April Sprint shootout pole: Charles Leclerc Sprint race winner: Sergio Perez ROUND 10 - AUSTRIA Red Bull Ring, Spielberg - 30 June-2 July ROUND 13 - BELGIUM Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - 28-30 July ROUND 18 - QATAR Lusail International Circuit, Lusail - 6-8 October ROUND 19 - UNITED STATES Circuit of the Americas, Austin - 20-22 October ROUND 21 - BRAZIL Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo - 3-5 November Read More F1 race schedule: What time is the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday? Why have Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney invested in Alpine F1 team? F1’s sprint shake-up could be the beginning of the end for Max Verstappen ‘Happy’ Lewis Hamilton still hungry for record eighth world title – Damon Hill F1 2023 calendar: All 23 Grand Prix this year Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to invest in F1 team

Paris Hilton has opened up about her decision to welcome her children via surrogacy. The reality TV star, 41, recently admitted that it wasn’t an easy decision to use a surrogate for the birth of her now 10-month-old son, Phoenix Barron. “Surrogacy was a difficult decision to make,” Hilton said during the season two premiere of Paris In Love, which hit Peacock on 30 November. "I would have loved that experience of growing the baby in your tummy and feeling the kicks and all of those exciting moments, but my life has just been so public,” she explained. “So even though the baby is biologically mine and Carter’s, we decided to have a surrogate carry him.” Hilton, whose life in the spotlight has been highly publicised since the early 2000s, ultimately came to the decision out of her concern for both her and her baby’s safety. In a confessional, her husband Carter Reum echoed those concerns as he spoke about their future plans for their family. "Now having a family with Paris, we want our family to grow up and be normal and not always be known as Paris Hilton’s children," he said. “We have to think about safety. When we go to the farmer’s market, it’s one thing if someone stops and asks Paris for a photo. It’s a whole other thing with the baby in tow in a stroller.” The 42-year-old venture capitalist continued: “I don’t think we know everything the journey’s gonna throw at us, but we’re just gonna tackle it as we go.” Hilton and Reum - who tied the knot in November 2021 - surprised the world last January when they announced the birth of their first child together. “You are already loved beyond words,” she captioned the post, which showed her holding her son Phoenix’s hand. Just 10 months later, they welcomed their second child together - baby girl London. “Thankful for my baby girl,” Hilton wrote on Instagram, showing a photo of a pink pajama set with the name “London” inscribed on the collared top. Because the DJ opted to use a surrogate to welcome her children, she was able to keep their birth a secret from not only her team of staff, but also her family. “Not even my mom, my sisters, my best friend knew until he was over a week old,” Hilton explained on her iHeartRadio podcast, This Is Paris. “It was really nice to have that with Carter, be our own journey together. I just feel like my life has been so public, and I’ve never really had anything be just mine.” In a preview clip for Paris in Love season two released earlier this month, Hilton’s husband shared his thoughts on keeping the birth of their first baby to themselves. “I don’t think it ever hit me we weren’t going to tell anyone, that was really Paris,” he said in the teaser. “My initial inclination was to tell my family and get everyone excited, hers was to hold the secret.” However, Reum admitted that he understood why Hilton was apprehensive about sharing Phoenix’s expected delivery date. “But she’s had to go through life having to protect herself, so I was gonna do everything I could to be a good teammate,” he said. Much like the birth of her son Phoenix, Hilton also surprised her friends and family after welcoming her daughter London. “The only people who knew were obviously Carter, my mom, and my sister. But my parents didn’t know when it was happening, they just knew that it was going to happen,” Hilton said during an appearance on Today earlier this week. “It was the best Thanksgiving surprise ever for everybody.” “I feel just so at peace, so happy, so grateful for my husband and this beautiful family and life that we’re building together,” she added. “I couldn’t imagine anything else. I’m just over the moon with everything.” Read More Paris Hiltons says ‘mama bear instincts’ came out after comments about son’s head Paris Hilton opens up about welcoming ‘angel’ baby London: ‘I’m loving my mom era’ Paris Hilton announces surprise birth and name of second child Paris Hilton’s husband reveals why she wanted to keep their son’s birth secret Paris Hilton makes grand entrance into F1 party but ‘no one’ is there to watch Megan Fox says she’s raising her sons so they are ‘not like men that I’ve been with’

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