Did Zandvoort Accidentally Reveal Surprising 2026 F1 Sprint Venues?
Jul.28 - The Dutch F1 GP may have accidentally - or deliberately - revealed the venues for Formula 1's six sprint races in 2026.
A now-deleted post from the official Zandvoort social media account appeared to show that Canada, China, Zandvoort, Silverstone, Miami and Singapore will host sprint weekends next season. Canadian media, including the Journal de Montreal, said the post "quickly disappeared, but it was too late".
If confirmed, it would mark a shake-up of the sprint calendar, with new additions like Singapore, Canada and Zandvoort, and just two venues - Shanghai and Miami - returning from 2025. F1 has not confirmed the list, but the deleted post aligns with expectations that the number of sprint events will remain at six in 2026.
It also suggests that the 2026 calendar will feature the same 24 circuits as this season.
Sprint races, introduced in 2021 to attract younger and more casual fans, remain unpopular with many drivers and traditionalists. The format eliminates a full practice session and shortens the race weekend, but also makes drivers cautious due to parc ferme rules and the proximity of full qualifying shortly after.
The Spa sprint last weekend was a prime example. Despite close running at the front, little overtaking occurred.
"There's not a lot going on," admitted Lando Norris. "I'm not too fussed about sprint races, but obviously main races I prefer to win."
Oscar Piastri, who started from pole, echoed the sentiment: "It is only the sprint. The main points are tomorrow."
Max Verstappen, who won the sprint, described it as "15 qualifying laps" just to maintain position. "You're keeping faster cars behind so you have to drive over the limit," he said. "Tyre management is out of the window."
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Firstly, the total circuit amount isn't 24 & the GP calendar was announced between the Canada-Austria interval, so everything's been fixed in this regard since then & not only will the sprint event amount most likely remain at 6, but the circuits featuring this format will also likely remain as they are, with one or max two changes, not to mention the Canadian GP promoter company declared at one point that they're uninterested to have the sprint format because even though the total session amount is five either way, the overall time cars circulate is lower than with the standard format, & I doubt FOM would be willing to hold the Singapore GP in this format either, given the circuit characteristics, so basing things on a single circuit's random tweet that has zero relevance for GP calendar matters anyway is pointless, especially as single circuits don't even have a say on which events have the sprint format & which have the standard one, especially regarding other circuits.
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