Why are the first two Formula 1 Grand Prix races of the 2024 season on Saturdays?

For the fourth consecutive year, Bahrain will host the opening round of the Formula 1 World Championship. The following week, the ten teams will have to cross the entire Saudi Arabia to gather in Jeddah, in the west of the country. But this double-header will have a very special feature: it will be the first time in history that F1 organizes two consecutive races on a Saturday.

This shift to Saturday is due to the starting date of Ramadan. Although the Muslim religious celebration only begins from March 10th, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was originally scheduled during this time. In order to respect the start of Ramadan, the Saudi organizers decided not to hold the F1 Grand Prix on Sunday, March 10th. As a result, the racing weekend in Jeddah has been rescheduled and will take place from Thursday, March 7th to Saturday, March 9th.

Furthermore, the Bahrain Grand Prix has also been moved forward by one day in order to allow the drivers and teams to have a week between these two races in the Middle East.

Modified schedule

The Grand Prix being on Saturday, all the sessions of the weekend must be modified and delayed by one day. Therefore, the practice sessions will take place on Thursday, followed by the qualifying session on Friday before the race on Saturday. The media day, which usually takes place on Thursday, is moved forward to Wednesday.

A special season

In addition to these two opening Grand Prix races on a Saturday, a third race will be held on a Saturday, the Las Vegas GP. Like last year, the organizers have decided to hold this race on Saturday evening to serve a dual purpose. For the promoters, a night race brings a sublime visual spectacle to the city of sin, while allowing European spectators to tune in on Sunday morning. The 2024 season, with its record calendar of 24 GPs, will therefore have three races on a Saturday for the first time.