F1 to have 10 sprint races in 2027, including Monaco — SkimNews
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- Formula 1 expanded sprint races from six to 10 for the 2027 World Championship, adding Bahrain, Australia, Japan, Monaco, and Abu Dhabi as first-time sprint hosts alongside Canada, Britain, Italy, Brazil, and Qatar.
- Monaco's inaugural sprint will feature two qualifying sessions — F1's key selling point — though the source notes overtaking is "almost impossible" on the street circuit, meaning the sprint finishing order will likely be locked after the first lap barring accidents.
- The 2027 season is scheduled to open in Bahrain (12-14 March) then Saudi Arabia (19-21 March), but F1 flagged both as "in doubt" due to the ongoing Middle East war, with contingency plans for an alternative opening schedule if racing there is impossible.
- F1 is also preparing contingencies for the end of the 2026 season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, working backup plans if the US/Israel-Iran conflict prevents those races from being held as scheduled.
- Portugal and Turkey return to the calendar for the first time since serving as pandemic-era placeholder events in 2020 and 2021.
- Silverstone credited its sprint weekend this year for the British Grand Prix's highest-ever attendance, with 64,000 more fans across the four days compared with the previous non-sprint year.
Why it matters: F1 is doubling down on sprints as a proven attendance driver — Silverstone's 64,000-fan bump being the cited proof point — but the calendar's heavy Middle East bookending (Bahrain opener, Qatar/Abu Dhabi finale) leaves both the 2026 and 2027 seasons exposed to the ongoing US/Israel-Iran conflict, forcing organizers to draft contingency schedules they may need to activate within months.
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