F1 Car Races Might Be Held on Saturdays
F1 Car Races might be Held on Saturdays as F1 looks to break its tradition of racing on Sundays for three races in 2024. It looks like Formula 1 will be treating fans with races held on Saturdays. This is because fans will be treated to Saturday races to open the year in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas.
For the first two races, the race will be held on Saturdays because of the holy month of Ramadan starting. This means the first two races of the 2024 season will take place on Saturday. Indeed, Ramadan begins at sunset on Saturday 9th March 2024, the day of the race in Jedda.
In order to facilitate the doubleheader’s logistics and give the paddock enough time to travel to Saudi Arabia and set up shop before Wednesday’s media day, Bahrain has decided to move ahead one day.
“That was actually a compromise to make sure we are broadcasting at a time when our European fans can get up with a cup of coffee and watch the race [at] six [or] seven in the morning, very similar to how we [in the US] watch the European races,” bid Reneé Wilm, the event CEO for Las Vegas, when explaining why the race was initially planned for Saturday night in the city this year.
Because of moving the Jedda race to Saturday, it was also necessary to move the race in Bahrain, a week earlier, to Saturday. This is an indirect consequence of the start of Ramadan because if the opening race were to take place on Sunday, the F1 teams’ would have one less day to travel to Saudi Arabia.
And later in the year, the Las Vegas GP is also set to be held on Saturday. This has a different reason, namely the American as well as European audience. What is the very best time to reach viewers in the United States and also satisfy European fans? Saturday night.
Renee Wilm, CEO of the Las Vegas GP explains: “We have found a solution so that European fans can watch the race with a cup of coffee at six or seven in the morning, just like it happens in the U.S. during the European races.”
So for Americans, the Las Vegas GP will take place at 10 pm.