The F1 2027 Calendar Is Out, And It Has 10 Sprint Races, Including Monaco

Much to the angst of many, Formula 1 has never pretended to be modest about what sells tickets. The newly confirmed 2027 World Championship calendar makes that plainer than ever. In case you missed the latest news, sprint weekends, once rationed to a handful of circuits a year, will now be included in ten of the twenty-four races: nearly double the previous ceiling of six.

The sport's official Instagram just posted the updated calendar for 2027. Two circuits, Portugal and Turkey, which haven't hosted a championship round since they filled in as pandemic-era stopgaps, make a return. But in probably the biggest news of all, Monaco will now have a sprint race.

Ten Sprints, Five New Venues

Bahrain, Australia, Japan, Monaco and Abu Dhabi will each host a sprint weekend for the first time, joining returning sprint venues Canada, Britain, Italy, Brazil and Qatar. On each of these ten weekends, Friday will have a separate qualifying session to make space for a sprint on Saturday, before lights out on Sunday.

The news that is raising eyebrows, however, is the inclusion of Monaco in this list. Reputation aside, it's a great track for timed qualifying sessions. But the Principality's streets are so narrow that overtaking is impossible in a wheel to wheel race. A sprint result here is most likely to be decided at the first corner and locked in for the remaining laps, unless a chrash changes things.

As you'd know by now, the Dutch Grand Prix is off the calendar entirely. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Spa-Francorchamps are also in this list, although they are set into an alternating arrangement: Barcelona-Catalunya shifts to even-numbered years starting 2028, while Belgium will host a Grand Prix on odd-numbered years starting 2027. In place of these, we got Madrid (Madring) this year, followed by Portugal (Portimao) and Turkey (Istanbul) from the next.

An Opening Round Under a Question Mark

Bahrain reclaims its place as the default season opener after Australia hosted the first round for the past two years. After being cancelled this year, both the opening races, Bahrain on March 12-14 and Saudi Arabia a week later, will be contingent on how the conflict in the Middle East develops.

F1 is drawing up contingency plans for the start of 2027 and the close of 2026 alike, with Qatar and Abu Dhabi still scheduled to host the season's final two rounds while the war between the US, Israel and Iran continues. A summit of nations tied to the conflict called for "maximum restraint" over the weekend, with no restraint yet in sight.