Silverstone director Stuart Pringle has indicated that a plan is on the table to extend the Formula 1 weekend at his circuit from three to four days. That way, the organisers want to attract more spectators and treat the public to even more action on the track. Thus, they plan to start the weekend as early as Thursday then.

The traditional programme of a race weekend consists of a media day on the Thursday and then the on-track action starts on the Friday with the first two free practice sessions. Silverstone wants to change that. It is planned that the media day will then shift to Wednesday and the drivers will take to the track with their cars as early as Thursday confirmed Pringle to Motorsport.com at Autosport International in Birmingham. However, that is easier said than done.

Melbourne has Thursday programme

Only for the Monaco race weekend until 2021 did the FIA make an exception in the schedule. There, the drivers had the Friday 'free' and racing was already underway on Thursday. The race weekend then still officially consisted of three days. Currently, the Melbourne race weekend is one of the weekends with a Thursday programme, when the track in Australia is open to V8 supercars and the Porsche Carrera Cup.

In 2023, the event is expected to draw full houses again. Last year, a record 400,000 fans were counted. Except for a few more expensive tickets, the race weekend is already sold out, suggesting Formula 1's growth in Britain will continue, something that has not been achieved before under Bernie Ecclestone's direction.