Formula 1 Expands Sprint Weekends to 10 in 2027 with Portugal and Turkey

Formula 1 will lean harder than ever into its sprint experiment in 2027, expanding the format to a record 10 events and dropping it into some of the sport’s most iconic venues – including Monaco.

The 2027 FIA F1 World Championship calendar, now confirmed, stretches to 24 grands prix across five continents and restores Portugal and Turkey to the schedule for the first time since they served as pandemic stand-ins.

Sprint era shifts up a gear

The sprint format, which adds a short Saturday race and a separate Friday qualifying session to the traditional weekend, jumps from a maximum of six appearances in previous seasons to 10 in 2027.

For the first time, fans in Bahrain, Australia, Japan, Monaco and Abu Dhabi will see sprint action. Canada, Britain, Italy, Brazil and Qatar complete the list of sprint hosts.

Race promoters pay more for the privilege, but they are queueing up. Competitive running on all three days sells tickets. Silverstone is the clearest example: the British Grand Prix recorded its highest ever attendance this year, with 64,000 more spectators over four days than the previous non-sprint edition – a surge the circuit attributes heavily to the extra race.

F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said: "We are thrilled to welcome Portugal and Turkey to the championship and to expand sprint racing to 10 events, giving our fans even more intensity, drama, and the wheel-to-wheel action that make our sport so special."

Monaco sprint: spectacle or stalemate?

The decision to bolt a sprint onto Monaco will divide the paddock and the grandstands alike.

Overtaking around the tight, Armco-lined streets is famously close to impossible. Once the cars snake through Sainte Dévote and up the hill on lap one, the order tends to calcify. That is the obvious downside: barring accidents or reliability issues, the sprint finishing positions are likely to be set almost immediately.

F1 is banking on a different selling point. Monaco will now deliver two qualifying sessions in a single weekend, with Friday setting the sprint grid and traditional qualifying shaping Sunday’s grand prix. Around a circuit where a single brush with the barriers can wreck a lap and where pole position often decides the race, that means twice the jeopardy, twice the precision, and potentially two very different starting orders.

Two grids, one of the most demanding laps in motorsport, and no room for error. That is the gamble.

Calendar framed by uncertainty in the Middle East

On paper, the 2027 season opens in Bahrain on 12-14 March, followed a week later by Saudi Arabia. Bahrain remains the default curtain-raiser, although Australia has taken that slot in each of the last two years because of the timing of Ramadan.

On the ground, nothing is guaranteed.

The war in the Middle East – and the broader conflict involving the US/Israel and Iran – casts a shadow over both the start and end of upcoming campaigns. F1 still plans to close the 2026 season with back-to-back races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but contingency plans are in motion if those events cannot go ahead.

The same contingency thinking applies to 2027’s opening flyaways. If racing in the region looks impossible by the end of this year, the sport will have to redraw the first phase of its calendar. On Sunday, a summit of nations involved in or affected by the conflict issued a call for "maximum restraint", underlining how fragile the geopolitical backdrop remains.

Portugal and Turkey back on the map

Away from the political uncertainty, the sporting footprint continues to grow.

Portugal and Turkey return to the championship, stepping back into full-time roles after their cameo appearances as pandemic-era replacements. Portimão’s rolling Algarve layout and Istanbul Park’s sweeping, multi-apex Turn 8 both earned rave reviews from drivers when they last featured.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, said: "The 2027 FIA F1 World Championship calendar is a strong reflection of the global appeal and continued growth of our sport.

"With 24 grands prix across five continents, the return of Portugal and Turkey, and the opportunity for an expanded sprint programme, the calendar combines tradition, innovation and fan engagement while maintaining the highest sporting standards."

Britain set, Bahrain to host testing

The British Grand Prix keeps its traditional mid-summer feel, locked in for 2-4 July, and will again carry sprint status.

Pre-season testing is scheduled for Bahrain on 24-27 February, setting the stage for teams to shake down new machinery on the same asphalt that, if circumstances allow, will launch a season built on more races, more sprints and more risk.

The question now is not whether F1 can fill the calendar. It is whether the world will let every one of those 24 lights go out on time.