The 10 Formula 1 teams have agreed on financial terms for the new Sprint Qualifying format, according to RaceFans.
Stefano Domenicali told La Gazzettta dello Sport recently that he expected the plans to be finalised before the second race of the season at Imola, and that now appears more likely.
With the finances seemingly agreed upon, talks will focus on ironing out the sporting details. RaceFans report that there is yet to be an agreement on tyre allocations and the use of DRS.
Under the existing proposal, Sprint Qualifying sessions will be held on three separate Grand Prix weekends on the Saturday, with normal qualifying shifted to Friday. The results of qualifying will set the grid for Sprint Qualifying, which then sets the grid for the main race on Sunday.
Points are expected to be awarded for the top finishers in Sprint Qualifying.
Currently, the weekends expected to trial the new format are the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.