Miami, China to host sprint races in 2024 Formula One season
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The Miami (pictured) and China Grands Prix will host sprint races for the first time in 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – The Miami and Chinese Grands Prix will host sprint races in the 2024 Formula One season, organisers announced on Dec 5.
There will be six sprints for the second straight year, after the format was added in 2022 to three race weekends.
The Azerbaijan and Belgian races will miss out on the Saturday sprint, after holding one each in 2023.
“The addition of Shanghai will be a challenge for the teams and drivers as Formula One heads back to China for the first time since 2019, while a sprint in Miami will add a new dimension to an enthralling weekend,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of motor sports’ governing body the FIA.
The United States, Austrian, Brazilian and Qatari Grands Prix will again host sprints, which offer eight championship points to the winner.
Other format tweaks under discussion include reversing part of the starting grid for the sprint.
Formula One, whose calendar expands to a record 24 races in 2024, is unlikely to expand beyond six sprints in the near future while the sport assesses the viewing figures and engagement.
Max Verstappen will bid for a fourth straight drivers’ world title after a record-breaking 2023 season in which he won 19 of the 22 races and four sprints.
Charles Leclerc also returns to the hot seat after signing a five-year extension with Ferrari that puts the Frenchman under contract with the team through the 2029 season, according to a report by Italy’s La Gazetta dello Sport.
His contract was set to expire at the end of 2024.
The extension includes an annual raise of more than US$27 million (S$36.2 million) and then $54 million in the final year.
The agreement also includes performance-related exit clauses that could enable Leclerc to negotiate an exit after 2027, if he is not satisfied with the Scuderia’s performance. AFP, REUTERS
