London, Dec. 7 (BNA): The United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and the famous Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium will host the first sprint races on the Formula 1 calendar for next season.
F1 has already committed to doubling the number of sprints from three to six and confirmed the hosts Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Sprint races are held on Saturdays before the main Grand Prix the following day. Sprints are held over a shorter distance and award fewer points, as well as set the grid for the next day’s race.
They have been credited with making the race weekend as a whole more attractive to TV viewers since they were first tried in 2021. Qualifying moves from Saturday to Friday when the sprint is on schedule.
Besides Austin & Spa, next season’s other sprints will be the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Austrian Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix. Of these, two of the three sprints were hosted by Austria and Brazil in 2022, and Brazil was also a host in the 2021 preliminary time trial.
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