The United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas will host a Sprint event for the first time in 2023 as one of six venues for the expanded Formula 1 schedule.
Each of the past two seasons have featured three Sprint race weekends, but that number is set to double next year and make up a quarter of the calendar. As part of the expansion, four new venues have been selected to host a Sprint, and Austin will do so for the first time as one of three events towards the end of the year.
The first Sprint will be held in Baku, followed by Austria — where a Sprint also took place this year — and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. COTA will be the fourth venue used in 2023, ahead of the returning race in Qatar and Interlagos.
F1 says the Sprint format has been a success in “generating significantly higher viewership than equivalent events where qualifying replaced the usual practice sessions on a Friday,” and CEO Stefano Domenicali believes fans get better value for money over such a weekend.
“We have seen a hugely positive reaction to the F1 Sprint events during the first two years of its running, and we can’t wait to bring even more action to fans with six events next year, including our first U.S. F1 Sprint in Austin,” Domenicali said. “The introduction of the F1 Sprint has created a race weekend that includes three days of competitive racing action and brings more entertainment to fans of the sport as well as additional value for key stakeholders including teams, broadcasters, partners, and host venues.”
The schedule has been approved by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem having previously blocked plans to expand the schedule in order to ensure the governing body was well-prepared to run more.
“Following strong collaboration between the FIA and FOM, and the approval of the World Motor Sport Council, we are pleased to reveal the six events for Sprints for the 2023 season,” Ben Sulayem noted. “We look forward to this exciting addition to the calendar.”
