What's happened so far?
The Sprint format debuted at the British GP in July with a 17-lap mini race before an 18-lap race at the Italian GP, both of which delivering fast and furious racing and impactful moments in the season.
- The full live schedule for the Sao Paulo GP on Sky F1
- Qualifying results and starting grid for Saturday Sprint
At Silverstone, Max Verstappen benefited from a poor Lewis Hamilton start to streak away from his rival and win the maiden event and thus take pole for Sunday's showpiece Grand Prix. Hamilton also got away poorly at Monza, dropping from second to fifth, with Valtteri Bottas winning the Sprint after also topping qualifying.
With pit-stops not necessary and ill-advised, and tyre strategies in the most part identical, on-track overtaking hasn't necessarily been the easiest (although say that to Fernando Alonso with six places gained in the two races), but what the Sprints have delivered in replacing Saturday qualifying is another big variable in terms of the race starts, both of which have had pivotal influences on the weekends, and the championship, as a whole...
Verstappen vs Hamilton collide - twice - as McLaren profit
While both drivers have a point to deny that their collisions had much to do with the Sprint themselves, the fact of the matter is that title rivals Verstappen and Hamilton have crashed heavily twice this year - both times on the Sunday following the Saturday Sprint.
Now let's explain how the Sprint had a part to play.
At Silverstone, the seeds were sown for that big Sunday collision by Verstappen and Hamilton's tussle on the first lap of the Sprint. Verstappen moved ahead of Hamilton at the start before the pair battled fiercely through the next corners, with Hamilton then getting a sniff of an overtake into the high-speed copse. However, Verstappen forced the home favourite all the way around the outside by blocking the inside, making a pass all-but-impossible. He would go on to comfortably win the Sprint.
So that was very fresh in the memory for Sunday's race - less than 24 hours later - and the pair, knowing track position was so important, were even more hostile in their wheel-to-wheel scraps through the opening corners. Then came the lead-up to Copse, and Verstappen again placed his car towards the inside, encouraging Hamilton for that tough move around the outside again. But this time Hamilton squeezed his car to that inside, and as he almost got alongside his rival, did not back out. The pair made contact with Verstappen sent shunting off into the barriers and out of the race.
Hamilton was given a time penalty but still went on to win, delivering a huge 25-point swing in the drivers' championship which is still well and truly alive today.
Admittedly their Monza crash was less to do with the Sprint and more on a very slow pit-stop for Verstappen, but the title rivals still would never have been in those track positions without the Sprint, which shuffled the qualifying order.
And McLaren would very likely not have won the race.
Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth on the Friday in Monza but rose to third in the Sprint via a flying start, and that grid position became second on the Sunday thanks to Bottas' penalty. After another strong start to pass Verstappen, and Verstappen and Hamilton's collisions, the Australian would take McLaren's first F1 victory since 2012.
So there lies the impact of the new-for-2021 so far.
The key stats so far
Thanks to his first place in Great Britain and second in Italy, Verstappen has collected the most points from the Sprints with five - with only four drivers taking those top three scoring positions so far.
Verstappen has also made the most of the Sprints compared to Hamilton in terms of gained positions from qualifying, on both occasions moving up one place while Hamilton lost one at Silverstone (1st to 2nd) and three at Monza (2nd to fifth).
But the aforementioned Alonso is the big winner in that regard, moving up a total of six positions through the two events. He started 11th at Silverstone and masterfully managed the soft tyres to finish seventh, while went from 13th to 11th in the second Sprint.
Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly have lost the most positions because of their respective DNFs.
What to expect from Brazil?
The Interlagos circuit is steeped in history and a big favourite with the drivers, particularly Hamilton and Verstappen who have typically gone well - and had big moments in their career - there.
What Brazil has told us over the years is that drama is never far around the corner, as Hamilton will know from his incredible last-corner title win back in 2008, and Verstappen from his 2018 crash with Esteban Ocon.
And after a qualifying where Hamilton unexpectedly dominated Verstappen, the title rivals will start on the front row for Saturday's Sprint - and in the same positions as Silverstone back before the summer break.
The big change for Saturday is that there is little to gain for title leader Verstappen in battling Hamilton, who will take a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's race. To put it simply, if Verstappen finishes second in the Sprint, he will take pole for the Sao Paulo GP.
"There are not that many points to gain," admitted Verstappen after qaulifying. "We just need to keep it clean because Sunday is way more important."
However, with just 19 points splitting the title rivals and 29 points to play for in Interlagos this weekend, don't be surprised to see Saturday's Sprint make another big impact.