Calendar 2024 F1: Three races will take place on Saturday
Formula 1 unveiled its calendar for the 2024 season last week. No major changes, but still some modifications, notably 3 Grand Prix that will take place on Saturday evenings.
Indeed, some were surprised when the announcement for the 2024 Grand Prixs and their dates was made. The more seasoned fans will have noticed that 3 races will take place on Saturday evening instead of Sunday.
These are the two opening races: the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. In the Middle East, shifting the Grand Prix to Saturday allows for anticipation of Ramadan, which will start on Monday, March 11th at midnight. Thus, the Bahrain Grand Prix will take place on March 2nd and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 9th. This is a novelty for the two first races of the year. The staff present in Jeddah would not have been able to observe Ramadan if the Grand Prix had taken place on Sunday, since most of them would not have been able to return home before the Monday night.
That is how it was decided to move the Grand Prix to Saturday. The Bahrain Grand Prix taking place just a few days before, it would have been too complicated for the teams to travel from Bahrain to Jeddah between Sunday and Tuesday. In order to ensure proper logistics, it was also decided to bring forward the Bahrain weekend.
Then, later in the season, another Grand Prix will take place on Saturday evening: the highly anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix. However, due to the time difference and as is already the case this season, the race in Las Vegas will take place early Sunday morning in France. Fans will have to wake up early to watch the cars parade along the Strip in the American city. The reason is obviously to have a night race on the streets of Las Vegas, and organizing the Grand Prix on Sunday evening would have made it impossible for most fans around the world to watch the race due to the time difference. So mark your calendars for November 23, 2024.
