F1: Miami, China Set To Host Sprint Races in 2024 Season

The Miami and Chinese Grands Prix will host sprint races in the 2024 Formula One season, organisers announced on Tuesday.

There will be six sprints for the second straight year, after the format was added in 2022 to three race weekends.

The Azerbaijan and Belgian races will miss out on the Saturday sprint having held one each in 2023.

“The addition of Shanghai will be a challenge for the teams and drivers as Formula One heads back to China for the first time since 2019, while a sprint in Miami will add a new dimension to an enthralling weekend,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of motorsports’ governing body the FIA.

The United States, Austrian, Brazilian and Qatari Grands Prix will again host sprints, which offer eight championship points to the winner.

The news follows Formula One’s agreeement to change its sprint format for 2024 after support from teams and stakeholders to make race weekends easier to follow.

“The Commission gave overall support for an update to the sprint format for 2024 to further rationalise the weekend by separating Sprint activities from those for the Grand Prix,” the FIA said in a statement.

Points could be awarded more widely for the sprint race, with a possible reverse grid element also under consideration.

“The final calendar for the 2024 sprint events will be published in the coming weeks.”

Six of this year’s 22 rounds were sprint weekends, including the Qatar Grand Prix in which Red Bull’s Max Verstappen clinched his third world title on a Saturday.

Max Verstappen will bid for a fourth straight drivers’ world title next year after a record-breaking 2023 season in which he won 19 of the 22 races and four sprints.