09/12/2022
NEWS STORY
F1 has officially confirmed the six venues that will host Sprint events in 2023.
According to F1 the selection of the events came following research to calculate the most suitable tracks for the format including overtaking opportunities, close racing and high-speed sections.
This will ensure competitive on-track action for fans across all three days of the race weekend at the selected Grands Prix.
As previously reported, the Sprints will be held at Azerbaijan, Austrian, Belgian, Brazilian, Austin and Qatar events.
According to today's release: "The Sprint format has been successful in engaging fans and increasing audience sizes. We have seen the event generating significantly higher viewership than equivalent events where qualifying replaced the usual practice sessions on a Friday. Audience was 7.8m (+39% vs Austrian GP 2021 Qualifying) across the 23 markets and performed +8% vs qualifying average of 2022."
"We have seen a hugely positive reaction to the F1 Sprint events during the first two years of its running," said Stefano Domenicali, "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.
"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."
"Following strong collaboration between the FIA and FOM, and the approval of the World Motor Sport Council, we are pleased to reveal the six events for Sprints for the 2023 season," added Mohammed Ben Sulayem. "We look forward to this exciting addition to the calendar."