F1 announce new sprint race venues for 2024 season

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F1 has announced the location of next season’s sprint races – with China and Miami surprise new picks.

The sprint, introduced to Formula 1 at Silverstone in 2021, sees all 20 drivers take part in a 100km dash on Saturday before the traditional grand prix on Sunday.

There were six sprint race weekends in 2023 and 2024 will follow suit, with the introduction of a “sprint shootout” qualifying session this year popular with fans.

The first sprint race weekend will be in April in Shanghai, at China’s return to the calendar following a five-year absence due to the Covid pandemic.

The sprint will also debut in Miami in May, whilst returning to Austria, Austin, Brazil and Qatar. With the sport embarking on a record-breaking 24-race calendar next year, the news means sprint race weekends will occupy 25% of the schedule.

There will only be one sprint race in Europe – Austria in June – while the penultimate race of the season in Qatar will stage a sprint race.

Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps) and Azerbaijan (Baku) miss out after hosting sprint races in 2023.

Discussions are also taking place about a change of format to the sprint race weekend, with the most likely alteration being the “sprint shootout” moving from Saturday morning to Friday afternoon.

The sprint race would then take place on Saturday morning, before grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Currently, the qualifying session for Sunday’s grand prix takes place on Friday after just one practice session. There are also discussions surrounding a reverse grid format for the sprint race.

Such modifications will be decided on at the F1 Commission in January.

Max Verstappen has made no secret of his dislike of the sprint race format, though did clinch his third world championship this year following the sprint race in Qatar.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “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, and we are looking forward to the exciting events next year.”

The 2024 F1 season starts on 2 March at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir.