China will host the first sprint in April, in round five on the calendar, with Miami hosting in May, Austria in June, Austin in October, Brazil in November and Qatar in November/December.
The US will host two of next year’s six Formula One sprint races with Miami joining Austin’s Circuit of the Americas in embracing a format likely to undergo further changes before the start of the season.
Miami and China’s Shanghai circuit, the latter returning for the first time since 2019, will be hosting a sprint for the first time. Austin, Austria, Brazil and Qatar all hosted sprints this season and will do so again next year, Formula One said in a statement on Tuesday.
China will host the first sprint in April, in round five on the calendar, with Miami hosting in May, Austria in June, Austin in October, Brazil in November and Qatar in November/December.
Introducing the 2024 #F1Sprint Calendar! 👊
Six venues will host F1 Sprint events during the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.#F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/Sv2GOjsWb6
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 5, 2023
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen clinched his third title in the sprint in Qatar last October, the first time since the 1980s that a championship had been won on a Saturday instead of Sunday.
Brazil’s Interlagos in Sao Paulo is the only circuit to have hosted a sprint since the format was introduced over three rounds in 2021 as qualifying for the main GP. The sprint format is expected to change next season, with the Formula One Commission set to vote on final proposals next month.
The changes are likely to see sprint qualifying revert to Friday, from Saturday, with the 100km race then held the next day and followed by a qualifying session for the main Sunday GP.
This year, the sprint qualifying and race were both held on Saturday as a standalone one-day event with GP qualifying on the Friday. Other format tweaks under discussion include reversing part of the starting grid for the sprint.
Formula One, whose calendar expands to a record 24 races next year, is unlikely to expand beyond six sprints in the near future while the sport assesses the viewing figures and engagement.
The sport’s own data showed bigger audiences for all the sprints this season, with the US GP in Austin showing 6% growth over the three days compared to the regular format last year.
The broadcast audience for the sprint race on Saturday was 31% up on regular qualifying the year before, while the Friday qualifying audience was 139% up compared to that for the second practice session last year.
“Since its creation in 2021, the sprint has been consistent in delivering increased audiences on TV, more on-track entertainment for the fans at events and increased fan engagement on social and digital platforms,” said Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali.
Reuters
