Briatore pushes F1 to run 24 Sprint weekends

Flavio Briatore says Formula 1 should stage a Sprint race at every one of the 24 grands prix on the 2026 calendar, arguing the current weekend format does not give spectators enough meaningful action before Sunday.

In an interview with The Race Business, the Alpine executive adviser said F1 "need[s] the Sprint races" and made clear he is not talking about a small expansion. "If it was down to me, having 24 grands prix, I would do 24 Sprint races," he said, presenting a full-season Sprint schedule as the way to give fans "something more."

Briatore's main complaint is that too many Fridays still offer little for people who have paid to be at the track. He said the morning is "only technical" and described weekends without a Sprint as sessions where "you do a lap on the track, then go back to the pits and that's it." By contrast, he argued, "with the Sprint at least you have two races, two starts, and the driver is driving for something, not only for the engineers."

He pointed to Silverstone as proof that appetite exists for more track action across the whole weekend. Briatore said that when he arrived on Thursday in 2026, it "looked like a Sunday of seven years ago" because there were already "20,000 or 30,000 people" at the circuit. He contrasted that with roughly 10 years earlier, when there was "nobody" there on Thursday and "very few people" on Friday.

The idea goes well beyond F1's current model, which uses the Sprint format on only six race weekends per season. But the direction of travel has already shifted, with the series having signaled at least 10 Sprint weekends in 2027, while CEO Stefano Domenicali has also publicly backed a more spectacle-driven approach.

Briatore's argument is not only about entertainment. It also speaks directly to promoter economics, with a Sprint weekend offering more saleable on-track content across three full days, or even three and a half if Thursday activity is counted. For circuits that rely heavily on ticket revenue, a program built around practice, qualifying and a Sunday grand prix is less valuable than one that also includes a Sprint race.