Formula 1 confirms venues for six 2023 Sprint events with United States and Qatar among first-time hosts

Azerbaijan, Belgium, Qatar and the United States will debut as Sprint hosts; the shortened races will also return to Austria and Brazil; Formula 1 has doubled the number of Sprints from three to six for the 2023 season

Austin’s Circuit of the Americas will hold a Sprint race for the first time

Formula 1 has confirmed the venues for its six Sprint events during the 2023 season, with four tracks hosting the shortened format for the first time.

Azerbaijan, Belgium, Qatar and the United States will debut as Sprint hosts, with Austria holding the event for a second successive season, and Brazil maintaining its record of being the only country to have been a venue for the format since its inception in 2021.

F1 has doubled the number of Sprints from three – as seen in 2021 and 2022 – to six for the upcoming campaign, with Grand Prix hosts keen to hold the popular events, which shake up the usual weekend format and provide more wheel-to-wheel action with another race.

The format sees Qualifying take place on Friday, before on Saturday drivers race over 100km – which is a third of the usual race distance – in a flat-out sprint for grid slots for the Grand Prix and points for their championship hopes.

The winner of the Sprint gains eight points, with that award descending by one point for each of the top eight.

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Check out the key moments from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint

The future of the format has divided opinion in the paddock, with world champion Max Verstappen suggesting the Sprint should not set the grid for Sunday’s race because drivers would then be willing to take even greater risk in the shorter event.

The most recent Sprint, at November’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, played host to perhaps the format’s most thrilling edition to date, as George Russell overtook Verstappen to win for Mercedes at Interlagos.

The F1 calendar for 2023

March 5: Bahrain (Sakhir)
March 19: Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)
April 2: Australia (Melbourne)
April 30: Azerbaijan (Baku)
May 7: Miami (Miami)
May 21: Emilia Romagna (Imola)
May 28: Monaco (Monaco)
June 4: Spain (Barcelona)
June 18: Canada (Montreal)
July 2: Austria (Spielberg)
July 9: Great Britain (Silverstone)
July 23: Hungary (Budapest)
July 30: Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
August 27: Netherlands (Zandvoort)
September 3: Italy (Monza)
September 17: Singapore (Marina Bay)
September 24: Japan (Suzuka)
October 8: Qatar (Losail)
October 22: USA (Austin)
October 29: Mexico (Mexico City)
November 5: Brazil (Sao Paulo)
November 18: Las Vegas
November 26: Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)