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Vowles Urges Two-Day F1 Weekends to Trim Practice and Open Calendar Options

He says the shift would return roughly 24 days to teams after raising the idea with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

Overview

  • The Williams team principal proposed condensing grands prix to Saturday–Sunday with reduced free practice to create a tighter, more spectator-focused schedule.
  • He argues the change could free enough time to add race weekends if desired, citing higher audiences on sprint weekends as evidence of fan appetite.
  • Vowles favors keeping six sprint events and suggests mixing formats across venues rather than enforcing a single template everywhere.
  • Critics highlight downsides including less seat time for rookies and the loss of a full day of track running for attending fans, with promoter revenue also a concern.
  • There is modern precedent in the two-day 2020 Imola weekend, but any broader move would require coordination with promoters and F1 governance, with no commitment yet.