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Lance Stroll<\/a>, meanwhile, revealed \u201cI like the sprint weekends\u201d after the topic was put to him ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This comes after the 2026 sprint calendar was announced on Tuesday<\/a>, which confirmed that the number of half-distance races will remain at six per year as it has been since 2023.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n F1 reveals six sprint race venues for 2026 season <\/a><\/p>\n The sprint concept was introduced in 2021 as a means of shaking up the grid and encouraging ticket sales earlier in the grand prix weekend. It started off with just three in a season, but the number has since doubled and there is even talk of increasing it to 10 come 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI have to say that aside from some older die-hard fans, everyone wants sprint weekends,\u201d F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said. \u201cPromoters push for this format and now the drivers are interested as well.\u201d<\/p>\n But are they? Well, Stroll certainly is as he thinks \u201cevery time you get in the car, there’s something to fight for\u201d. He is of course referring to the fact that sprint weekends mean there are more competitive sessions with just one practice outing, as opposed to three at a regular grand prix.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes the weekends very exciting for the teams, for the drivers, for the fans watching, too,\u201d added the Aston Martin driver. \u201cIt’s a lot more action over the three days.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing<\/p>\n A similar view is held by Mercedes<\/a> rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/a>, who relishes the thought of jumping straight from free practice into sprint race qualifying.<\/p>\n \u201cSprint weekends are quite exciting,\u201d said the 19-year-old, who claimed pole for this year\u2019s Miami sprint. \u201cAs a driver, it is a challenge because you go from free practice straight into qualifying and the challenges are the ways to try and get to the limit and understand how much you can push.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cSo it’s good fun,\u201d he added. \u201cI’ve been enjoying the sprint weekends this year – definitely wouldn’t mind having more of those in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Current championship leader Oscar Piastri<\/a> was another driver in Baku to claim \u201cadding more sprints is not necessarily a bad idea\u201d, but there are some who oppose it. Haas racer Esteban Ocon<\/a>, for example, got quite philosophical about the debate as he gave a big sigh before arguing that F1 is already at the edge of having too much action.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are living now in a consumer world where we want more and more, we want more races,\u201d said the F1 veteran.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we watch Wednesday on Netflix, we don’t want to wait 10 days for the second part of the season. But when it’s done, we really quickly forget things and we go on to the next one, because we have so much content to watch.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s the same thing for sports, it’s the same thing for anything now because we have the choice, we have a lot of entertainment.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I remember when I was young and I was expecting so much the next race and it was actually quite long to wait for it. It was a big highlight of my week when Sunday was the grand prix.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cNow, we already race almost every week and to have a sprint on top, yes, it’s a lot more content, for sure we’ll have more views because we are racing on Saturday, but I believe it’s probably a bit too much.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t mind racing more. I would always be happy to race more but, I kind of prefer to have that expectation, building up to the grand prix and enjoying what you’re watching.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles Leclerc says the number of sprint races F1 currently hosts is Charles Leclerc says the number of sprint races F1 currently hosts is<\/p>\n The 29-year-old Haas driver makes a solid point, because too much content can actually have a negative impact and with 24 rounds on the calendar, drivers are already starting to feel the limit. It could also lead to fans switching off given the amount of action to follow, which led\u00a0Charles Leclerc<\/a>\u00a0to echo Ocon\u2019s thoughts.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cMy personal opinion is that I think the amount of sprint races we have at the moment is good enough and I wouldn\u2019t want to go more than that,\u201d said the Ferrari<\/a> driver.<\/p>\n Sprint events are part of a long debate about how to spice up grand prix weekends, which rose to the surface once again when Domenicali proposed the idea of shorter races – or even reverse grid concepts.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Should F1 change its race weekend format? Our writers debate <\/a><\/p>\n The reversed grid idea keeps coming up, but how would it work? Currently F2, as an example, holds two races per weekend and the Saturday contest is a sprint event where the order of the top 10 from qualifying is flipped – a concept that Piastri thinks shouldn\u2019t make its way up to F1.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bad idea,\u201d said Piastri, who won both the F2 and F3 titles. \u201cAlso just from a purely sporting and competitive side of things, the last thing we want as a sport is things being decided or critical results being had from reverse grid races.<\/p>\n \u201cIn F2 and F3 I think it works. In Formula 2 and Formula 3 you’re kind of showcasing yourself to why you should be in Formula 1 and I think that’s a way of showcasing certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n It seems as though the grid is united in its view of reverse grids, with Ocon claiming \u201cI think that\u2019s quite artificial\u201d.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team<\/p>\n \u201cFormula 1 has to be the pure kind of racing that we look out for when we were young,\u201d he added. \u201cIt has to be the quickest that wins and the strongest team that wins. Having a reverse grid, yes, again, it’s more show, but it would be artificial.\u201d<\/p>\n His boss at the Haas team, Ayao Komatsu, added: \u201cI’m not a fan of reverse grid. That’s for sure, because I don’t think it’s right for Formula 1. It’s too artificial, I think. Too gimmicky, just artificial, really. It’s not really racing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n This seems to be the key concern among the F1 paddock: how \u201cartificial\u201d are reverse grids? Is F1 entertainment or is it a live sport? Leclerc also argued that it is not within the \u201cDNA\u201d of the championship, because why reward failure by placing a lower-placed driver on pole?<\/p>\n Domenicali seems intent on shaking up the weekend format but right now, the grid is united in wanting to keep reverse grids as a hypothetical scenario.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n F1 Azerbaijan GP: Why teams might abandon Pirelli\u2019s soft tyre <\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/514fbf5cc8b4330a145a7606cdfe568f.jpeg\"\/)
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