The Miami Grand Prix and Chinese Grand Prix will feature sprint races for the first time, joining four other events that will retain the format Formula 1 has revealed.
Austria, Circuit of the Americas, Brazil and Qatar will again be sprint weekends on the Formula 1 calendar, with the format being dropped at Baku in Azerbaijan and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
It’s believed sprint weekends will feature a different timetable than 2023, where teams had one Free Practice session followed by Grand Prix qualifying on Friday before the Sprint Shootout and Sprint Race on Saturday, with the Grand Prix retaining its traditional Sunday slot.
Teams will be given proposals on the new format in January. Suggested schedules include shifting Grand Prix qualifying to Saturday before the Sprint and running a reverse top-ten race from that session.
The Chinese Grand Prix on 19-21 April will be the first Sprint weekend of the season, followed by the Miami Grand Prix two weeks later. Both new venues were selected because of the ample overtaking opportunities available, while Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia were overlooked due to being too early in the season.
The Austrian Grand Prix is on 28-30 June, ahead of the United States Grand Prix on 18-20 October, the Brazilian Grand Prix on 1-3 November and the Qatar Grand Prix on 29-1 December.
Header Image: Formula 1
