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F1 Announces New Sprint Race Calendar for 2023 After 2022 Success

Albert Einstein once said that "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." The F1 World Championship has been around for about seven decades now. And we all know how much society has changed since the '50s. If the sport hadn't adapted as well, it would no longer be a part of our lives today. One of the major updates in recent years has been the introduction of the Sprint Race format, and more news on the topic has been published recently.
F1 Announces New Sprint Race Calendar for 2023 After 2022 Success 21 photos
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
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Back in 2021, F1 experimented with a Sprint Qualifying system at three events on the calendar. Drivers would go up against each other before the main event on Sunday, in a race that would be about 62 miles (100 km) long.

Whoever would finish that challenge in P1 would also start from that position in the Grand Prix. Max Verstappen established dominance in both the first and the last Sprint Qualifying session of the year. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas was the fastest man in the Sprint event in Italy at Monza.

At one point, some rumors pointed out the fact that F1 would increase the number of sprint races for 2022. But that decision was postponed, and the same three-race format was kept for this year as well.

The first one took place at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and Max Verstappen was once again the man of the hour, with Charles Leclerc finishing 2.975 seconds behind him. He continued to dominate this session in Austria as well, but this time Leclerc crossed the line just 1.675 seconds later.

F1 Announces New Sprint Race Calendar for 2023 After 2022 Success
Photo: Mercedes-Benz Group AG
The final Sprint race of 2022 was held in Sao Paulo, at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. And George Russell managed to score his first "small" F1 victory after a total of 24 laps.

This year, the first eight drivers to cross the finish line in a Sprint event all received extra points to aid them in their battle for the championship. It's quite clear that this new format can be quite challenging for teams and drivers alike, as it implies more costs and more risks throughout the weekend.

Still, according to F1's statistics, these races have been engaging more fans while drawing in bigger audiences than ever before. With that in mind, the official Sprint calendar for 2023 has just been released.

And there are twice as many such events scheduled to take place next year than we've seen in 2022. The first one is set to take place in Azerbaijan, and it seems that we won't have a Sprint race in Italy for the time being. Austria is still on the books and will hold the second event in 2023.

F1 Announces New Sprint Race Calendar for 2023 After 2022 Success
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
Drivers will have to go through double the work at both the Belgian Grand Prix and the Qatar Grand Prix, but that's not all. United States fans are also in for a treat, as the Circuit of the Americas will also host a Sprint race in 2023.

The sixth and last one of the year will go down at Interlagos, in Brazil. With six races on the calendar, drivers can grab a maximum of 48 extra points to help them in their quest for the championship. And that's worth almost as much as two GP wins! When choosing these venues, the organizers wanted to have tracks with good overtaking opportunities, close racing, and high-speed sections.

While it might not be easy for the teams involved, it sure is going to be more entertaining for both live spectators and people watching from the comfort of their homes. The only question that comes to mind now is: Will there be even more Sprint races coming in 2024? Is that where all this is going?
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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
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The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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