Published29. February 2024, 09:09
Motoring: Resumption of F1: why GPs will be contested on Saturday
The 2024 Formula 1 season will be intense, with a whopping 24 Grands Prix on the program. And uniquely, three of these events will take place on Saturday. We’ll explain it to you.
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Robin Carrel
See you Saturday in Sakhir.
AFP
We feel that F1 races will resume soon, because the little buzz surrounding the “Drive to survive” series has started to heat up again. Besides the fact that this show, which has restored popularity to the Formula 1 world championship in recent years, is starting to get a little boring with still the same narrative after six seasons – not to mention the discomfort of subscribers in front of the display of the private life of Christian Horner, today in trouble – it is a perfect return to business.
We have known this since last July, but the 2024 financial year will not be like the others for many reasons. The 75th edition of the world championship will be incredibly long, with 24 GPs on the calendar. But it will also begin with two incongruities likely to shock the purists: three races will take place on Saturday, while the regulars used to reserve their Sunday afternoons for staying glued to their small screen for an hour and half.
Last week, Bahrain hosted the winter tests and the first race of the year will also take place at the Sakhir International Circuit. This inaugural weekend of competition is brought forward one day compared to usual practice in the paddock. The first free practice sessions will take place this Thursday, qualifying will take place on Friday and the race is therefore scheduled for Saturday. Which will happen three times this season and it’s quite tactical.
Las Vegas can’t do anything like everyone else.
Getty Images via AFP
If the first two GPs are brought forward, it is because Ramadan will begin on Sunday March 10. As a result, the organizers of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix asked the International Automobile Federation to postpone its weekend. And as everything was shaken up among the Saudis, the Bahrainians also turned everything upside down for 24 hours, in order to have time for the teams to move all the equipment from the paddock from Sakhir to Jeddah.
Other places, other customs: the other Saturday on the program for Formula 1 version 2024 is scheduled for November 23 in Las Vegas. And there, the GP was brought forward for much more mundane reasons. Since the start is scheduled for 10 p.m. local time, the time difference would be horrible for TV ratings in Europe. By racing on Saturday, the GP can be broadcast here at seven o’clock in the morning on Sunday and that seems much more logical.