Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hails the Sprint concept, reveals plans to have more in 2027

The 2026 British Grand Prix weekend marked the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the Sprint concept in Formula 1. It was first applied at the 2021 British Grand Prix.

The format of a Sprint weekend has been tweaked since its introduction but currently features only one free practice session, which is followed by a qualifying session for the Sprint Race on Friday. The Sprint Qualifying has different rules and duration compared to Grand Prix Qualifying.

Then Saturday is kicked off with the Sprint Race, which runs over 100 km before the teams are allowed to break parc fermé and modify their cars for Qualifying on Saturday afternoon. The Grand Prix takes place on Sunday.

As with everything in F1 these days, some like the Sprint weekends, while others, mainly the purists, both fans and drivers, are against them, while we at GrandPrix247 like to call them "glorified practice sessions".

But Domenicali claims Formula 1 is very happy with Sprints and revealed plans to increase them from 2027 onwards.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 over the weekend of the 2026 British Grand Prix, where Formula 1 announced record crowds, Domenicali said: "If you remember in the beginning, people were always skeptical of what we're doing, and I think that we have the duty to be, in a way, brave and to think out of the box.

"I think you see the effect. With the [150,000] people we had on Friday at Silverstone, if you don't give something that has an action, it would be wrong.

"Therefore, I think that this is the way to go, and we are on the process of announcing the bigger number for the future, and this will come when we announce the calendar very, very soon.

"Stay tuned," the 61-year-old Italian concluded, as Sky Sports claimed there would be 10 Sprint weekends in 2027.