Saturday races and new dates
Formula 1 is making major changes to the 2024 racing calendar
07/05/2023 4:49 p.m
In its quest for more sustainability, Formula 1 is shaking up its racing calendar for the 2024 season. The Japanese Grand Prix is in spring, the race in Azerbaijan in late summer. In addition, the first two of a total of 24 Grand Prix will take place on a Saturday.
Formula 1 is planning a record season with 24 races for the coming year. As can be seen from the calendar that has now been published, the first World Championship round will take place on March 2nd in Bahrain, and the season traditionally ends on December 8th in Abu Dhabi. There will not be a Grand Prix in Germany in 2024 either, the last time was the Nürburgring in 2020. After that, further World Cup races failed because of the financing.
Actually, there should have been 24 Formula 1 races for the first time this year. But because of the corona pandemic, the race in Shanghai, China, was canceled well in advance in the spring, and it was also not possible to start in Imola, Italy, due to the flood disaster. There was no substitute for either event.
What is special about the new calendar is that the first two Grands Prix in Bahrain and a week later in Saudi Arabia will each take place on a Saturday evening and not on a Sunday as usual. The reason for this is Ramadan. In order to hold the race in Saudi Arabia before it starts, it is postponed to Saturday, March 9th. The start a week earlier in Bahrain will therefore be brought forward by 24 hours so that there is enough time for assembly and dismantling as well as transport.
Likewise, at the end of November in Las Vegas, on a Saturday, victory is at stake. That sounds unusual at first, but it was quite regularly the case up until the 1980s, more than 70 times in total. This year, Las Vegas will also be held on a Saturday – it is the first Saturday race since 1985.
Focus on sustainability and three races in the USA
The first small steps were also taken for 2024 in the pursuit of more sustainability. Formula 1 “made it clear that it intends to regionalize the calendar more” and “reduce the logistical effort”.
That’s why the Grand Prix of Qatar and Abu Dhabi are now held one after the other at the end of the season. In addition, the races are no longer held in autumn, but in April in Suzuka, Japan (after Australia and China) and in September instead of in spring in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. The Grand Prix thus moves to the end of the European races, which stretch from Barcelona in June to Monza at the end of August/beginning of September.
Some of the particularly insane jumps across the globe have indeed been canceled, but others remain. Miami (May 5) is sandwiched between the Asian and European blocs. And the latter is interrupted for a trip across the Atlantic to Canada (9 June). Due to “climatic and contractual framework conditions,” writes Formula 1, “there will always be trips that cannot be fully regionalized.”
Once again, three World Championship races will take place in the USA. Miami, Austin in Texas and the gambler’s paradise of Las Vegas welcome Formula 1 as they did this year. For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, it is also scheduled to go back to Shanghai, China, on April 21. It is still unclear on which weekends the six sprints will be held in addition to the normal race. This season they will take place in Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, Austin/USA and Brazil.