Formula 1 has announced the grands prix at which its Sprint format will be utilised in 2023.
Sprint will take place at grands prix in Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the United States and São Paulo.
It will be the second successive season in which Sprint has been held in Austria and third in a row for São Paulo.
For the other four events, including 2023 returnee Qatar, it will be their first running of Sprint.
“We have seen a hugely positive reaction to the F1 Sprint events during the first two years of its running, and we can’t wait to bring even more action to fans with six events next year, including our first US F1 Sprint in Austin,” said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
“The introduction of the F1 Sprint has created a race weekend that includes three days of competitive racing action and brings more entertainment to fans of the sport as well as additional value for key stakeholders including teams, broadcasters, partners, and host venues.”
Sprint was introduced in Formula 1 in 2021, in which a 100km race takes place on Saturday to determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race, with qualifying – for Sprint rather than the grand prix – shifted to Friday.
The format took place at three grands prix in 2021, and again in 2022, before being expanded to six of the 23 events for the 2023 season.
No changes have yet been made to the format that was used in 2022.
Formula 1 has been exploring whether to split Sprint and hold it as a standalone race, in a bid to avoid drivers being risk-averse due to Sprint’s current impact on the grand prix. Discussions are ongoing regarding adopting a different approach in the future.
Only minor revisions were made between 2021 and 2022, with the biggest change being the expansion of points from the top three to the top eight.
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