- F1 Expands Sprint Weekends to 10 as Bahrain Opens 24-Race 2027 Calendar
Formula 1 will expand its Sprint programme from six to a record 10 weekends in 2027 while retaining a 24-race championship, with Bahrain returning as the season opener and Portugal and Türkiye rejoining the calendar in one of the most significant reshuffles of the schedule in recent years.
The FIA and Formula 1 confirmed the calendar following approval by the World Motor Sport Council, with 24 Grands Prix across 22 countries and five continents. The championship will begin in Bahrain on March 12-14 and conclude in Abu Dhabi on December 10-12.
It will be the fourth consecutive season featuring 24 rounds, keeping Formula 1 at the current ceiling rather than adding further race weekends. Instead, the sport is increasing the amount of competitive action within the existing schedule by expanding the Sprint format by four events.
Bahrain, Australia, Japan, Monaco and Abu Dhabi will stage Sprints for the first time. Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Brazil and Qatar complete the 10-round Sprint schedule after previously hosting the format.
The expansion represents the biggest increase in Sprint racing since Formula 1 introduced the short-form competition in 2021. The sport initially held three Sprints annually in 2021 and 2022 before increasing the number to six from 2023 through 2026.
Formula 1 says the commercial and audience data behind the format have supported further expansion. Total viewing audiences for Sprint weekends are about 12% higher than for conventional weekends, while Sprint Qualifying can attract up to three times the audience of the practice session it replaces. F1 also says 82% of attendees at Sprint weekends believe the format adds value to their ticket and 75% of surveyed fans believe Sprints add value to the championship calendar.
Under the current format, Sprint weekends feature one practice session followed by Sprint Qualifying on Friday. Saturday contains the Sprint and qualifying for the Grand Prix before the main race on Sunday.
The addition of Monaco is likely to attract particular attention. The tight street circuit traditionally places unusually heavy emphasis on qualifying because overtaking opportunities are limited. A Sprint weekend will now give drivers two qualifying sessions and two competitive races around Monte Carlo.
Bahrain’s return to the opening slot also marks a scheduling change. The Sakhir circuit will stage a four-day pre-season test from February 24-27 before hosting the opening Grand Prix two weeks later. It will be Bahrain’s first season-opening race since 2024 and its first Sprint weekend.
Saudi Arabia follows immediately on March 19-21 before Australia returns to the third round from April 2-4. Japan follows one week later, with China completing a three-race Asian sequence on April 16-18.
Miami occupies the April 30-May 2 weekend before Canada hosts a Sprint from May 21-23. Monaco follows on June 4-6, ahead of one of the other major changes to the championship the return of Portugal.
Portimão will host the Portuguese Grand Prix from June 18-20, marking Formula 1’s return to the circuit for the first time since 2021. Silverstone follows with a Sprint on July 2-4, before Austria, Belgium and Hungary take the championship into its summer break.
The break will last five weeks, one week longer than the conventional four-week shutdown, before racing resumes with a Sprint at Monza from September 3-5.
Madrid then hosts the Spanish Grand Prix on September 10-12. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is moving into a rotational arrangement with Spa-Francorchamps from 2028, with Barcelona scheduled in even-numbered years and Belgium in odd-numbered years under the arrangement.
Türkiye also returns to Formula 1 for the first time since 2021, with Istanbul Park scheduled for October 1-3 between Azerbaijan and Singapore.
That creates an Azerbaijan-Türkiye-Singapore sequence before the championship moves into its traditional Americas phase, beginning in Austin and continuing through Mexico City and São Paulo.
Brazil will host another Sprint on November 5-7, followed by Las Vegas on November 19-21. Qatar and Abu Dhabi will then stage back-to-back Sprint weekends to close the season in December, meaning both the penultimate and final rounds will feature additional competitive sessions.
The return of Portugal and Türkiye comes as Zandvoort drops from the championship following the conclusion of the Dutch Grand Prix’s current run on the calendar.
Formula 1 says the wider schedule has been arranged with greater attention to geographical sequencing and sustainability, grouping races more efficiently where possible to reduce unnecessary long-distance movements between events.
Yet the 2027 calendar will still contain demanding stretches for teams, drivers and travelling personnel, including multiple double- and triple-headers across a season running for almost 10 months.
F1 President and Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali said the expanded Sprint programme was intended to provide greater intensity and competitive action while retaining the mixture of established circuits and major global destinations that has driven the sport’s recent commercial growth.Rather than continuing to expand beyond 24 Grands Prix, the championship is seeking to extract more sporting and commercial value from the weekends already on the schedule. Moving from six Sprints to 10 means more qualifying sessions, more races carrying championship points and fewer Friday sessions devoted solely to practice.
The 2027 calendar therefore represents expansion without adding more Grands Prix.
With Bahrain back at the front of the schedule, Portugal and Türkiye restored, Monaco entering the Sprint era and one-third of the championship now featuring Sprint racing, Formula 1 is reshaping how much competitive action it can deliver inside the same 24-race framework.
