Summary
A Grand Prix weekend usually runs from Friday to Sunday. Friday is for practice, jump to Friday practice. Saturday’s qualifying decides the starting order, and Sunday is the race. On a sprint weekend, jump to The sprint, Friday has one practice session and then sprint qualifying, and Saturday adds a short race that scores points. Ten of the 24 rounds in 2027 are sprint weekends, jump to Sprint calendar. Monaco, Britain, Italy and Abu Dhabi are among them.
Formula 1 runs each Grand Prix over three days, and the cars are on track on all three. A standard weekend has three practice sessions, then qualifying on Saturday, then the race on Sunday. A sprint weekend replaces two of those practice sessions with a second qualifying session and a shorter race. Las Vegas runs a day earlier, with qualifying on Friday and the race on Saturday.
Friday: practice
Practice is where each team works on the car’s set-up, meaning the way it is adjusted for that particular circuit. The drivers also try the different types of tyre available that weekend. A practice session usually lasts an hour, and the times do not count towards the result.
A standard weekend has two practice sessions on Friday and a third on Saturday before qualifying. The cars still run at full speed. Drivers set single fast laps. They also drive longer runs of laps at race speed, called stints, to see how quickly the tyres wear.
Saturday: qualifying, from Q1 to Q3
Qualifying decides the order in which the cars start the race, which is called the grid. It runs as a knockout in three parts, called Q1, Q2 and Q3. The slowest cars drop out at the end of Q1 and Q2, and Q3 decides the top ten places. Formula 1 first used this format in 2006.
Since 2026 there have been 22 cars on the grid, because Cadillac joined as the eleventh team.
- Q1Q1 lasts 18 minutes, and all 22 cars take part. The six slowest drop out and qualify 17th to 22nd.
- Q2Q2 lasts 15 minutes for the 16 cars that are left. The six slowest drop out and qualify 11th to 16th.
- Q3Q3 lasts 13 minutes for the ten fastest. The quickest lap takes pole position, which is first place on the grid. The other nine qualify behind in the order of their times.
Penalties can still move a driver down the grid from the place they qualified, so the starting order is not always the same as the qualifying result.
Double waved yellow flags warn drivers of serious danger on the track ahead. In qualifying, any lap driven through them is deleted. When a driver fails to set a time in Q1, the stewards decide whether that car may start the race. The stewards are the officials who enforce the rules.
Why pole position matters
Pole scores no points by itself, but it gives a driver the clearest run to the first corner.
How much pole matters depends on the circuit. The streets of Monaco are narrow, overtaking there is rare, and so qualifying often settles the result. Our guide to the Monaco circuit goes through it corner by corner. Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium is the opposite case. Its long Kemmel Straight gives a following car the chance to use the slipstream. Following closely behind another car reduces the air resistance on the car behind, which helps it draw alongside and pass.
As of October 2026, Lewis Hamilton holds the record for pole positions, with 104.
The sprint: a short race with its own qualifying
The sprint is a race of about 100 kilometres. That is roughly a third of a Grand Prix distance. It usually lasts about half an hour, and drivers do not have to stop at their team’s garage for tyres or repairs. The first eight finishers score points, from eight for the winner down to one for eighth. A Grand Prix win is normally worth 25 points.
The sprint has its own qualifying session, called sprint qualifying, on the Friday. It uses the same three-part knockout, with shorter parts of 12, ten and eight minutes. The sprint result does not decide the grid for Sunday. Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday does that, as it does on a standard weekend.
Formula 1 introduced the sprint in 2021. In its first seasons the sprint result set the grid for the Grand Prix, and since 2023 the two have been separate.
How a sprint weekend’s timetable differs
Friday
A standard weekend has two practice sessions. A sprint weekend has one practice session, followed by sprint qualifying.
Saturday
A standard weekend has a third practice session, followed by qualifying. A sprint weekend has the sprint, followed by qualifying for the Grand Prix.
Sunday
Both formats end with the Grand Prix.
On a sprint weekend, every day has a session that counts. Friday’s sprint qualifying sets a grid, and Saturday has a race as well as qualifying.
The 2026 and 2027 sprint weekends
Formula 1 and the FIA named six sprint weekends for 2026. The first three were China, Miami and Canada. Britain, the Netherlands and Singapore followed later in the season.
The 2027 calendar has 24 Grands Prix, and ten of them are sprint weekends. Bahrain, Australia and Japan hold their first sprint in 2027. Monaco and Abu Dhabi do too.
Bahrain
12 to 14 March
Australia
2 to 4 April
Japan
9 to 11 April
Canada
21 to 23 May
Monaco
4 to 6 June
Britain
2 to 4 July
Italy
3 to 5 September
São Paulo
5 to 7 November
Qatar
3 to 5 December
Abu Dhabi
10 to 12 December
Four of the 2027 sprint weekends are Grands Prix we arrange: Monaco, Britain, Italy and Abu Dhabi. Our Belgian, Singapore and United States Grand Prix weekends follow the standard format in 2027.
What each day is like as a guest
All seven Grands Prix we arrange in 2027 run over a Friday, a Saturday and a Sunday. Which of those days your booking covers depends on the race, and so does what happens on each one.
Friday at the circuit
One of our Monaco options is a seventh-floor suite at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo, which you use from Friday to Sunday. The suite looks down on the Fairmont Hairpin, a corner that turns back on itself. It is the slowest corner in Formula 1. In 2027 Monaco’s Friday has sprint qualifying after practice, so the first day already sets a grid.
Our Singapore weekend covers Friday as well, from a reserved grandstand seat. There is live entertainment at the Padang Stage after the running on all three days.
Saturday at the circuit
Saturday is qualifying day, and on a sprint weekend the sprint runs earlier the same day. Italy is a sprint weekend in 2027. At Monza, your reserved grandstand seats cover Saturday’s sprint and qualifying, then Sunday’s race.
Abu Dhabi is also a sprint weekend in 2027. There you spend Saturday and Sunday either in a reserved grandstand or on a yacht moored in the marina beside the circuit.
Sunday at the circuit
Sunday is the Grand Prix. The British Grand Prix is a sprint weekend in 2027, and our day there covers race day only. You travel from London on the Belmond British Pullman, a train of restored 1920s and 1930s carriages. A coach takes you from Milton Keynes to reserved seats at Silverstone, and the same train brings you back to London after the race.
At Monaco, Grandstands K and T are race-day seats on the harbour. Grandstand K is at the Tabac corner, overlooking the yachts of Port Hercule. Grandstand T runs from the swimming-pool exit towards the La Rascasse corner. If you are in the Fairmont suite, race night ends with Nikki Beach’s party at the Fairmont itself. In Abu Dhabi, a concert at Etihad Park follows the race, and you can choose to go.
Which day suits your group
If you can only come for one day
Sunday is the day to choose, because the race decides the result. Our British Grand Prix day by train is built around it.
If your group is new to Formula 1
Saturday of a sprint weekend suits a first visit. The sprint lasts about half an hour, and qualifying follows it on the same day.
If you want every session
Friday to Sunday covers practice as well. Our Fairmont suite at Monaco and our Singapore weekend both run over all three days.
Which Grand Prix to go to is a separate question, and our guide to which Grand Prix to attend answers it race by race.
Chloe Burchell
Event Manager
Event Manager at Imperial Corporate Events. She’s hosted clients at everything from the Six Nations to the Eastern & Oriental Express, and she’s good company on the day.
