You might’ve noticed it already: the 2024 F1 calendar is a bit different than the previous ones.
But why? From racing in Japan in April to the Chinese Grand Prix come back, let’s take a look into the major changes of this year’s championship.
Three F1 Races on a Saturday
As we all know, both the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix were held on a Saturday.
The reason behind this is simple: this year Ramadan began on Sunday, March 10th, the day before the race in Jeddah, which was moved up a day.
As an indirect consequence, the race in Sakhir was anticipated too. This is because there has to be at least a week between races to let everyone to have enough time to travel between locations and rest.
The third race that will be held on a Saturday is Las Vegas, just like last year. To maximise the spectacularity of the show, the organizers wanted a night race, but they also had to consider time zones, but in the US and Europe. A Sunday night race in Vegas would’ve meant a Monday morning start in Europe, so they decided to race on Saturday.
The Regionalisation of the F1 Calendar: Japan in April
The first big change on the 2024 F1 calendar as we go on is the Japanese Grand Prix happening in April, for the first time ever.
Why? The FIA decided to regionalise the calendar, to improve the efficiency of travelling and make F1 more sustainable.
Because of this, they created a sort of Asian leg of the championship, with Australia, Japan and China happening one after the other.
Another good reason to race in Suzuka in April is the weather: in October the region is characterised by the hurrican season, which makes the climate situation difficult to face. This year the teams will have the chance to be in Japan during the cherry blossom season. Definitely a different kind of vibe.
The second change was the posticipation of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, from April to September. This way, Baku will happen a bit closer to other European races, like Zandvoort and Monza.
On the other hand, it will be right before Singapore, to remind us all that travel will always be necessary and it’s not possible to regionalise the whole calendar.
Last but not least, Qatar will be held on the first weekend of December, right before the final race in Abu Dhabi. Hopefully this will help avoid the difficulties drivers had to suffer because of the extreme heat and humidity during the 2023 Qatar GP.
F1 is back in Shanghai
This year we won’t have any new races on the calendar, but F1 will be back in China!
The race is making its return for the first time since 2019, as the race was cancelled in the past years because of the Covid – 19 travel restrictions in the country. The occasion is definitely special, as this year marks the 20th anniversary of the first ever Chinese Grand Prix. Also, it will be the first time a Chinese driver, Zhou Guanyu, will be driving on track!
Things definitely changed since the last time F1 raced here. During that last race, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas secured a 1-2 finish for Mercedes, while Sebastian Vettel finished third with Ferrari.
