F1 to cut maximum race distance to 290km from 2027
Formula 1 will shorten its races from 2027, cutting the maximum grand prix distance from 305km to 290km. The change was agreed by the F1 Commission, according to BBC Sport.
The cut is 15km. That takes the ceiling from 189.5 miles to 180.2 miles. The distance rule sets the longest a Sunday race can run. The racing limit stays put. Grands prix remain capped at a maximum of two hours of racing.
There is also a change to how the sport handles long delays. At present, officials have up to three hours to finish a grand prix when rain or accidents cause interruptions. That window covers stoppages and restarts without letting the event run on indefinitely.
From 2027, that fixed three-hour allowance will go. It will be replaced by what the sport calls a hard stop time. In simple terms, that is a firm cut-off for the event rather than one countdown used the same way at every race.
That cut-off will not be identical everywhere. It will vary from race to race depending on local conditions. Each venue will get a deadline that fits its own circumstances.
Practice time will become more flexible too. The Commission has agreed greater leeway to extend free practice sessions if they are interrupted. Free practice is the running before qualifying, the session that decides the starting order, when teams test parts, learn how the tyres behave and tune the balance of the car. If a stoppage eats into that running, officials will have more room to add time back.
What makes this stand out is the tidiness. Formula 1 rarely trims its core numbers. A shorter ceiling, a clock that still reads two hours, and a finish time shaped by place rather than a blanket rule point to a sport trying to keep Sundays sharp and predictable.
For fans, this means Sundays should feel a touch tighter but familiar. Fifteen kilometres is only a handful of laps, so the flow from lights-out to chequered flag will not feel radically different. The clearer change may come on chaotic days, when a stop time set for the circuit in question should give everyone watching a firmer sense of when the race must end.
