I liked it! I had my doubts, but I thought the Sprint Race is much more interesting like this - the element of strategy makes it more exciting I guess.
Another good improvement was the Power Boost in qualifiying! It mixed up the grid completely (think about what happened to MEX, LEB, ITA, SUI), and caused some nice overtaking actions in both races! It provides teams which are usually not up front with a chance of actually driving in the top and being in a more comfortable position to score points. Great improvement!
http://a1.gpgrid.com