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The sport wants to host three sprint races in
2021, with the first at Silverstone in July and the second
scheduled for Monza in September.
The venue for the third has yet to be decided, with the United
States in October and Brazil in November mentioned as the most
likely candidates. Both have hosted title-deciding races in the
past.
Under the new format, qualifying will switch to Friday with
points awarded on Saturday to the top three drivers in a short
40 minute race to decide Sunday's starting grid.
Those extra points could, in theory, be enough to clinch the
title although the current battle between Mercedes' seven times
world champion Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen
looks like going the distance.
The pair are so far separated by just four points after six
rounds.
"We'd probably want to avoid the title being decided on a
Saturday," Brawn told reporters in a briefing ahead of Sunday's
French Grand Prix.
"If we went to the last race and a driver could win the
championship on Saturday by winning a sprint event, that could
bring an added dimension but I think we'll just try to avoid it
while we find out how successful it is.
"We want to pick an event ideally a few races before the end of
the season and we always want to pick tracks where we think the
racing can take place in a short format with overtaking
opportunities and a little bit of tyre degradation.
"I don't think we want to do it at the last race."
Brawn said he understood purists might be unhappy with the
proposed change but he urged them to hold judgement and give the
format a chance.
He said the sprint race would give promoters and broadcasters
more of a show with three meaningful days as well as potentially
appeal to a new and younger audience of fans.
Brawn likened it to short-format cricket compared to Test
matches, saying the former had attracted new fans for the
traditional offering.
"We will never force this through if it's clearly not a
success," he promised. "There's no incentive in doing it if the
audience don't engage.
"I think one of the great things about what's happening is that
it's three races, it's not the season...If we don't get the
response we hope, then we'll put our hands up and stay the way
we are."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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