Saturday races and new dates
Formula 1 is significantly restructuring the racing calendar for 2024
In an effort to be more sustainable, Formula 1 is shaking up its racing calendar for the 2024 season. The Japanese Grand Prix is moving to spring, the race in Azerbaijan to late summer. The first two of a total of 24 Grand Prix take place on a Saturday.
Formula 1 is planning a record season with 24 races for next 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 be no Grand Prix in Germany in 2024 either; the last time it took place was at the Nürburgring in 2020. After that, further World Cup races failed due to 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 replacement for either event.
What is special about the new calendar is that the first two Grand 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 has been moved 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 set-up, dismantling and transport.
Likewise, victory is at stake on a Saturday in Las Vegas at the end of November. This sounds unusual at first, but it was the case regularly until the 1980s, more than 70 times in total. This year, Las Vegas will also be racing 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 effort to achieve greater sustainability. Formula 1 has “made clear its intention to regionalize the calendar more” and “to reduce the logistical effort”.
That’s why the Grand Prix in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will now take place one after the other at the end of the season, and the race will no longer take place in autumn, but in April in Suzuka, Japan (after Australia and China) and in September instead of spring in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. The Grand Prix comes at 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 crazy jumps across the globe have actually been canceled, but others still remain. Miami (May 5) lies between the Asian and European blocs. And the latter is interrupted for a trip across the Atlantic to Canada (June 9th). Due to “climatic and contractual conditions,” writes Formula 1, “there will always be trips that cannot be completely regionalized.”
Once again, three World Cup races will take place in the USA. Miami, Austin in Texas and the gaming paradise of Las Vegas welcome Formula 1 as they did this year. For the first time since the start of the corona pandemic, we are scheduled to go to Shanghai, China, on April 21st. It is still unclear which weekends the six sprints will take place in addition to the normal race. This season these will take place in Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, Austin/USA and Brazil.
