At the start of the new Formula 1 season, fans have to get used to racing Saturdays instead of racing Sundays. Why?
It starts again next weekend: Formula 1 starts the new 2024 season with the Bahrain Grand Prix. World champion Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team want to defend their titles and once again win both the driver and driver titles in the new year Win the Constructor’s Wave Championship.
Last season, Verstappen and his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez won 21 of the 22 races. Will a similar dominance be achieved this season? This will also depend on the main rivals Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and possibly Aston Martin and whether they have managed to take a significant step forward.
Race weekends are moving forward
The neutral fans will therefore be watching with interest to see whether next season they can finally be offered a similarly exciting title fight as last time in 2021. Back then, the fight for the title between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton was only decided in the last lap of the last race of the season.
However, in order not to miss the start of the new season, TV viewers have to be attentive. Because the first two race weekends in Bahrain (29.02.-02.03.) and Saudi Arabia (07.03. to 09.03.) will each be postponed by one day compared to the usual schedule.
The opening race in Bahrain will take place next Saturday and not Sunday as usual. Accordingly, qualifying will take place on Friday and the first two free practice sessions on Thursday. It will be the same a week later in Saudi Arabia.
Consideration for Ramadan
The reason: The fasting month of Ramadan begins on March 10th in Muslim-dominated Saudi Arabia. So the race Sunday would fall on the same day. In consideration of this, Formula 1 has decided to bring the race in Saudi Arabia forward. Because there must always be at least seven days between two races in Formula 1, the season race in Bahrain was moved forward one day.
Incidentally, it is not the first time that races have been held on Saturday: only last year, the new race in Las Vegas was held on Saturday evening local time so that it could be seen on Sunday morning due to the time difference in Europe. The very first Grand Prix in Formula 1 history at Silverstone in 1950 was also driven on a Saturday. The tradition was maintained at the race in England until the 1970s. The last Saturday race before Las Vegas 2023 took place in Kyalami, South Africa, in 1985.