It’s set to be an action-packed weekend in Austin, as the United States Grand Prix will host the fourth Sprint race of the year.

Each season there are six Sprint events and so far in 2025, they have taken place in China, Miami and Belgium with both São Paulo and Qatar still to come.

Since they were introduced in 2021, there have been 21 Sprint races in total. This popular format is designed to offer fans more competitive track action, featuring an extra Qualifying session and a 100km (62-mile) race in place of practice. The Saturday Sprint (held at 12:00 on Saturday in Austin) is one-third of the distance of a Grand Prix and lasts for approximately half an hour. The distance of the Sprint has been calculated to be equivalent to a stint on one set of tyres and features no mandatory pit stops.

At the Circuit of the Americas, the weekend format will start with Free Practice 1 at 12:30 local time on Friday. With just the one practice session to set up their cars, it means there is extra pressure on all the teams to utilise FP1 to their advantage.

Sprint Qualifying takes place at 16:30 on Friday afternoon and follows a similar format to traditional Qualifying, with five drivers eliminated at each stage, but with a shorter time for each session to increase the jeopardy. The three stages, SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3 last 12 minutes, 10 minutes and just eight minutes respectively. Medium compound tyres are mandatory for the first two sessions, while Softs must be used for SQ3.

Originally, the result of the shorter-format Sprint race formed the grid for the main event and only handed out points for the top three. This often discouraged drivers from taking risks, as any retirement would place them at the back of the grid for the Grand Prix itself. When the Sprint was expanded to six events in 2023, it became a standalone feature of the weekend with points now awarded, eight down to one, to the top eight finishers. There are no points for fastest lap.

The Sprint no longer determines the grid for the Grand Prix, as Qualifying takes place at 16:00 local time in Austin. But it can still have an influence on the outcome of the weekend. For example, drivers can still pick up a grid penalty for any on-track misdemeanour, which they would have to serve in Sunday’s race. That’s why Sprint weekends offer unmissable action across all three days.