F1 announces sprint race calendar for 2025, Belgium replaces Austria

Formula 1 has announced the six grand prix weekends that will feature sprint events in 2025, with Spa-Francorchamps reinstated as Austria drops off for the first time since 2021.

Five of the events on the sprint calendar remain the same from 2024’s schedule; China and Miami will continue to host Saturday races, as will Austin, Brazil, and Qatar.

Belgium had previously held a sprint race in 2023, although this was omitted alongside the Azerbaijan sprint from this year’s calendar as the returning Chinese Grand Prix and the Miami round were installed as new hosts.

The return of a sprint race to the Belgian Grand Prix weekend comes at the expense of the Austrian Grand Prix, which first hosted a sprint in 2022 and remained on the schedule for the next two seasons.

Having held a sprint in every season since the format was introduced in 2021, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix will continue to do so having produced a series of highly acclaimed shorter races.

Both Qatar and the United States Grand Prix were first introduced to the sprint calendar in 2023 when the number of 100km races was increased from three to six, and remain on the bill for both this season and next.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, the rest of the field at the start

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

F1 has also revealed an increase in viewing figures for sprint weekends over ‘normal’ weekends featuring three practice sessions, underlining its decision to continue with the format.

It is expected that the current layout used in 2024, in which the sprint race takes place on Saturday prior to grand prix qualifying, will remain in place.

This had been changed for this season to allow parc ferme to open between the sprint race and qualifying proper, ensuring that teams could address any mistakes in set-up to account for the loss in practice time.

The changes ensured that the sprints became more of a standalone event, rather than directly affecting the full-length grand prix, and now does not penalise drivers for any set-up changes between the sprint race and the grand prix.

Due to the revisions to the 2025 calendar over 2024, this ensures that the China and Miami sprints are no longer in consecutive weekends, while all three sprint rounds following the summer break are also more spaced out.

Chinese GP – Shanghai International Circuit – 22 March
Miami GP – Miami International Autodrome – 3 May
Belgian GP – Spa-Francorchamps – 26 July
US GP – Circuit of the Americas – 18 October
Sao Paulo GP – Autodromo de Interlagos – 8 November
Qatar GP – Losail International Circuit – 29 November