Formula 1 has confirmed which six rounds of the world championship will host sprint events next year, including three venues which have not previously hosted them.
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada, Zandvoort in the Netherlands and the Singapore street circuit will play host to sprint events for the first time. F1 previously announced its plan to stage a sprint round at the final edition of the Dutch Grand Prix.
The short race format will also return to Silverstone, which has only previously played host to a sprint round once, in 2021. Miami and Shanghai will host the two other sprint rounds, as they did this year.
The move to three new venues means Interlagos in Brazil will not hold a sprint race for the first time since the format was introduced four years ago. Next year’s Brazilian Grand Prix will return to the usual arrangement of three practice sessions plus qualifying and a single race. The Belgian and Qatar rounds of the world championship will also drop their sprint races next year.
Sprint races have proved a divisive addition to the calendar. Formula One Management insist the format has succeeded in increasing viewership of F1. However the shorter races consistently receive lower scores than grands prix from RaceFans readers.
The most recent sprint event at Spa saw no position changes among the top 13 starters, aside from Max Verstappen’s first-lap pass on Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly’s retirement. Alexander Albon was among the drivers who criticised the race, calling it “very boring”. While F1 drew attention to the “significant rise in TV viewership” for the race, it has not chosen Spa as a sprint race venue for next year.
F1 will introduce sweeping new technical regulations next year. The first sprint race under the new rules will take place at the second round in Shanghai.
This article will be updated.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
