F1 Sprint: Silverstone unlikely to host 2022 event

The new Formula 1 season is approaching with car launches getting underway this month before the first test in Barcelona towards the end of February.

It’s an exciting time for F1 fans, particularly with the new rules and regulations coming into effect for this season, and many cannot really predict what is going to happen between now and the end of the campaign thanks to this added sense of the unknown.

Certainly, 2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year and the intention of F1 is for Sprint to remain a firm part of the calendar, though it remains to be seen in exactly what guise.

Sprint was devised for the 2021 campaign as a new qualifying format that would see a race held on the Saturday over a third distance of a full Grand Prix to set up the grid for Sunday’s showpiece, with championship points going to the top three.

Silverstone, Monza and Interlagos held the first three events last season, with the one in Brazil perhaps the most epic as Lewis Hamilton stormed through the field despite being landed with a DRS-related infringement penalty.

The plan, then, is for Sprint to return for 2022 but some teams are currently opposing the plot to expand it to six Grand Prix weekends for this year, citing cost issues, and so a lot is up in the air with the format at the moment.

One thing that seems likely, though, is that other circuits could be given the chance to host, with the Daily Mail reporting Silverstone is unlikely to feature this time around:

“Bahrain, Imola, Austria, Canada and Brazil are all high on the list. An F1 source told Sportsmail: ‘Silverstone is not currently in the running.'”