Teams and Pirelli back fresh look at F1 weekend format

Formula 1 leaders say they are open to rethinking the sport’s weekend format again, as speculation grows that Liberty Media may push for further changes beyond 2026.

Speaking in Hungary on Friday, team bosses and suppliers were asked whether F1 must keep evolving to sustain its global growth under Liberty, which acquired the sport in 2017.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella praised current management but said ongoing change may be needed. "We all have a responsibility to sustain this journey that F1 as an overall business is going through," he said. "As part of this responsibility, we need to be open to reinventing ourselves if this is needed to sustain this growth.

"We understand also that the fandom has changed, and it could be that there's a need to review the way we approach free practice, the way we approach the entire race weekend.

"I think we have to be open to that. Obviously, we will try to be reasonable, we will try and protect some elements of the DNA of Formula 1, but definitely, I think it's part of our responsibility to contribute."

Although rumours continue about more sprint races or reshaped Fridays, a recent Zandvoort leak suggests the number of sprint events will remain at six in 2026.

But beyond that, change remains on the table. Alpine team principal Alan Permane said: "We need to give our customers what they want at the end of the day - the spectators, the people watching us. I think sprints are good fun. I'd be happy to do a few more, no problem."

Pirelli’s Mario Isola agreed: "Changing something when everything is going well is risky, and nobody wants to take any risk. But if we don't want to be late, we need to anticipate what could be the success of the future Formula 1, that is not granted, as Andrea said.

"We arrived at this point because Stefano and his organisation decided to do something that was at the beginning quite strange, unusual - and it worked well. So now we are saying Formula 1 is a fantastic platform for all of us, but we need to continue with this bid to create something new."