Reacting to the 2027 F1 calendar - including TEN sprints

Key takeaways

• F1 has announced ten sprint races for 2027, up from previous seasons, at Bahrain, Australia, Japan, Canada, Monaco, Great Britain, Italy, Brazil, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. China, Miami, Austria, and Singapore lose their sprint status. Matt argues this confirms their long-held prediction that F1 will keep expanding sprints incrementally until "soon we'll have half the season" as sprint weekends, softening resistance by adding a few more each year rather than jumping straight to a radical format.
• The most controversial change is Monaco getting a sprint weekend with double qualifying and double racing instead of the usual three practice sessions. Both hosts predict the sprint race itself will be nearly unwatchable, since drivers have no incentive to push or risk contact before a qualifying session immediately follows—similar to the processional, no-stop Monaco race of 2024. The redeeming feature is two full qualifying sessions, which both agree will likely be more exciting than any actual racing at the track.
• Matt objects strongly to Abu Dhabi hosting a sprint in a season finale, arguing a championship decider deserves a traditional three-practice build to a Sunday showdown, not a single practice session before immediate action. Tommy counters that stacking more points into the final two races (66 points on offer versus a traditional 50) is actually F1's way of keeping the title fight alive later into the season, avoiding a repeat of the widely mocked double-points-finale experiment.
• Not all sprint additions make sense to the hosts: Japan is called "forced" and compared unfavorably to Zandvoort, while China (which they feel is fully deserving of a sprint given past racing quality) was dropped in its favor, which Matt says makes him "physically unwell." Canada, Bahrain, and Australia are seen as strong, deserved sprint venues given how well the current car regulations suit those tracks.
• Portimao returns to the calendar as a fast, undulating circuit reminiscent of Kimi Räikkönen's famous wet-weather start, though Tommy flags turn one as under-braked for his taste, with turn six's hairpin offering the main overtaking hope. Turkey's comeback draws the most emotional reaction, with both hosts reminiscing about the legendary flat-out (or near flat-out) turn eight and the switchback sequence at turns 12 through 14, while bracing for the possibility that modern cars might take turn eight without the same drama as the Vettel and Red Bull era.
• Both hosts predict sprint expansion is inevitable and possibly unstoppable, comparing it to MotoGP's full sprint calendar, and speculate F1 could reach "half and half" sprint-to-normal weekends before facing a real decision point on whether to convert entirely.

Notable moments

• "No days off... we are imminently heading to go and interview Max Verstappen and F1 went bombshell boom, here's your F1 sprints, here's your calendar."
• Matt's reaction to double qualifying and double racing at Monaco: "My initial reaction was genuine, like, out loud laughter."
• On the Monaco sprint race itself: "We'll have a sprint race that will be absolutely abysmal, like it'd be so bad, nothing will happen."
• Matt on the Abu Dhabi finale: "If there is a championship decider, I don't want a sprint race."
• A running joke throughout: "See you later" to Miami and Singapore losing their sprint slots, and China being swapped for Japan despite deserving it more.
• On Turkey's return: "I love this track more than life itself... turn eight that they now take flat with no problem."
• Tommy's closing anecdote: he told his partner Grace he was interviewing Max Verstappen, and her only reaction was asking if Pierre Gasly would be there too.

Time saved: 28 minutes.