– Perhaps the biggest surprise in the 2027 Formula 1 calendar was the fact that there will be a sprint in Monaco next year. Although Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali had already announced that he wanted to increase the number of sprint races.
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The fact that one of the ten sprints in 2027 will take place precisely in Monaco initially causes surprise. Because in the past, it was generally agreed that sprints on a track like the narrow street circuit in the principality hardly made sense.
In 2022, the then Formula 1 sporting director Ross Brawn said about the then still quite new sprints in the top class: “We have to choose the right tracks, and honestly, we will not hold a sprint in Monaco.”
Lewis Hamilton was even clearer when he later said in the same year: “I think we have to choose that very carefully. Let’s look at the season, find out where the most overtaking happens, and then we will hold the sprint races there.”
“For example, it would be completely ridiculous to hold a sprint race in Monaco. I like that we are trying something new. But for Monaco, we need a different solution,” said the Formula 1 record world champion at the time.
Additional qualifying as another highlight
So why has the top class now decided on a sprint in Monaco after all, even though the overtaking situation there has not improved in recent years? The answer is probably not found on Saturday in the sprint itself, but already on Friday.
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Because of the sprint, there will already be an additional qualifying for the short race on Friday in Monaco 2027. This way, fans can be offered another “highlight” a day before the main qualifying on Saturday.
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Precisely because of the difficult overtaking situation in the principality, qualifying in Monaco is considered the most exciting of the entire year. In 2027, there will now be two of them, and for that, a presumably boring sprint on Saturday is accepted.
In the end, this still offers fans greater added value than three free practice sessions on Friday and Saturday. In addition, it is not the first time that Formula 1 has tried to make the Monaco weekend more exciting.
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In 2025, they experimented with two mandatory pit stops in the race. However, the plan backfired, so it was discarded again for 2026. The sprint is now another attempt in 2027 to enhance the traditional Monaco Grand Prix.
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