By Alan Baldwin
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Monaco's tight and twisty streets will host a Formula One sprint for the first time next season with a record 10 race weekends, including the scheduled opener in Bahrain, featuring the format on a 24-round calendar published on Wednesday.
The championship will start at the Sakhir circuit on March 14, after February 24-27 testing in the Gulf kingdom, with Saudi Arabia the second round on March 21, Formula One and the governing FIA said.
Portugal (June 20) and
Turkey (October 3) are additions with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and Barcelona having dropped off.
There were no asterisks against the four races in the Gulf but they will remain uncertain for as long as the current conflict in the region continues.
Saudi Arabia's race in Jeddah was cancelled this year while Bahrain's has been rescheduled to Malaysia's Sepang circuit next month.
SPRINT MEANS TWO QUALIFYING SESSIONS IN MONACO
The inclusion of a Monaco sprint race will surprise some, given that overtaking is almost impossible around the principality's harbourside layout.
Qualifying is usually the most exciting point of the Monaco weekend, with the race often a procession and won from pole position, and Formula One highlighted the fact that spectators would now get two qualifying sessions as well as the showcase grand prix on Sunday.
Replacing Friday's second practice session with sprint qualifying should increase the excitement on the first day of track action but it will also give drivers significantly less time to work their way into the weekend at a particularly unforgiving track.
A Saturday sprint victory is worth eight points to the winner, meaning a driver can come away from the weekend with a maximum of 33 rather than the usual 25 if he wins both.
The 2026 season featured six sprints, the most to date, but Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali said in August that the number would be increased because so many circuits wanted one since the format was introduced in 2021.
Formula One said its data showed total viewership of sprint weekends was 12% higher than non-sprint weekends, with qualifying three times more popular with fans than free practice.
Bahrain's Sakhir circuit, Australia (Melbourne), Japan (Suzuka), Monaco and Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) will all host sprints for the first time.
Returning sprints will be Canada (Montreal), Britain (Silverstone), Italy (Monza), Brazil (Interlagos) and Qatar (Lusail).
That means three of the first four rounds will be sprints, as well as three of the last four.
"We are thrilled to welcome Portugal and Turkey to the championship and to expand sprint racing to 10 events, giving our fans even more intensity, drama and the wheel-to-wheel action that makes our sport so special," said Domenicali.
Australia (April 4), Japan (April 11) and China (April 18) will form a triple-header on successive weekends before Miami stands alone on May 2 with Canada and Monaco following on May 23 and June 6.
Azerbaijan (September 26), Turkey (October 3) and Singapore (October 10) form another triple-header with Austin (October 24), Mexico (October 31) and Brazil (November 7) lining up as the third.
Next season is due to end later than this year with successive sprint weekends in Qatar (December 5) and Abu Dhabi (December 12).
This year's final race is scheduled for Abu Dhabi on December 6, although it could be rescheduled to Italy's Imola circuit for the same date.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
