Along with the recent announcement of the 2026 Sprint calendar has come conversation surrounding the locations, and the amount of Sprints. FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem has expressed his thoughts on the increasingly number of Sprint Races.
Rumours have began to appear surrounding the possibility of 10 Sprint Races in 2027. In conversation with Viaplay, Sulayem spoke on his concerns of “additional burden” on FIA staff. While he can understand Domenicali’s position, his concerns lies more so with his staff.
“Commercially, I understand his position. Stefano is a good friend, we speak five times a week, but I also always consider the additional burden on our staff. They already travel a lot, and it’s very tiring to get more races,” Sulayem commented.
“You also have to ask yourself if it’s good for the teams. There are multiple interests at stake. If you only focus on the sporting side, you run into commercial problems and vice versa. Both must be balanced.”
Domenicali’s push for additional Sprint weekends
Prior to the Italian GP weekend, Stefano Domenicali commented on the demand for Sprint Races by fans. He claimed that other than old-school, die-hard fans, “everyone wants sprint weekends”. Many fans have commented on their dislike of sprint weekends on social media, concerns surrounding the single practice session within the sprint weekend format.
Domencali assures that Formula 1 will reach a point of having Sprint Races every weekend like MotoGP. Although, he acknowledges that his direction is clear, stating that demand will increase to wanting all weekends to host the same format.
“I have to say that aside from some older die-hard fans, everyone wants sprint weekends. Promoters push for this format and now the drivers are interested as well. I’m being a bit provocative, but free practice appeals to super-specialists; people who want to see more action prefer a sprint weekend. There’s more to discuss and comment on from Friday – there’s a qualifying session – but I understand it has to become part of F1 culture.
“The direction is clear: I can guarantee that in a few years there will be the demand to have all weekends with the same format. I’m not saying we’ll get to MotoGP, which has a sprint at every round – that’s too big a step. I see it more as a maturation process that respects a more traditionalist approach.”
