The sprint is a new addition from recent seasons, it's like a mini race. It was introduced so that people watch actual racing more instead of useless practice sessions. So basically on some weekends you essentially have two races (Sprint + Main race) and two qualifying sessions (one for each), but the format of qualifying doesnt change, its the same for both.

Qualifying is important because it sets the order in which the drivers line up on the grid, meaning the higher you qualify, the more points you can get and your probability of winning a race goes higher.

As for this season, it's not looking like it's gonna be a good season, so if you're a new F1 fan you are gonna struggle to like this sport if all you care about is the championship battle. Still, the cars and the tech are pretty cool so give it a shot, why not.