Frankly ‘normal’ qualifying setting up overall grid positions (for both races) then a reverse grid sprint race would be the only way a sprint face could be interesting and worthwhile.
The only way I see a reverse grid working is basing it on the current championship position. You could even do away with qualifying altogether. But if you want to penalise the leader, why not just add a few kilos to the cars for every point they have. Do they not do that in some racing leagues?
Otherwise you get those in the midfield potentially going for last in qualifying so they start 1st in the sprint race with a hope of hanging on for a few points in the sprint race which they would never get in the full race.
I think overall F1 has become too complicated, too much strategy, because overtaking is impossible. We're supposed to get excited by the "undercut" on the tire changes, yeah right! I preferred it in the 80s (which is when I started watching F1). No weird qualifying elimination, no need for tire changes, no need to run different types of tire (there was only one type), and not so many races that it was impossible to keep up.
I get the impression Liberty are trying to turn F1 into some sort of background noise, which is always on, always in the news, but which you don't have to follow each race, because there are so many, missing one doesn't matter (and it might well be boring anyway). Football (soccer) in Europe has become like that. Tennis as well.
[Sorry about the rant]