(Motorsports news) Unusually the first two races of this season’s Formula 1 will be held on Saturdays, with the second round in Saudi Arabia moving from Sunday to accommodate Ramadan, while the prior weekend’s opener in Bahrain has also moved ahead by a day to ensure that there is the normal time gap between events.

Next year’s inaugural circuit Las Vegas has been set for a return to Saturday race days, which used to be traditional in South Africa, and, up until 1977, at Silverstone.

However, due to the effects of COVID-19 Las Vegas was dropped from the Formula 1 grid and thus absent for a fourth year in a row, while the last-minute cancellation of the Emilia Romagna race at Imola has currently left this season’s total at 22.

Next year’s season-opener in Bahrain follows the official three-day test at the same venue on 21-23 February.

In this year’s Formula 1 there was a gap between the Bahrain and Saudi races, as teams were hesitant to go straight into a double-header after testing, but next season the two events will run on consecutive weekends. That should lead to a substantial decline in personnel travel, with most team members likely to stay in the region rather than head back to Europe, which was the case this year.

Similar to this year’s Formula 1 calendar, Imola is followed directly by Monaco, but with a modification, the two races are no longer part of a trio with Spain.

The Barcelona race has rather repositioned to a slot in late June as the first part of an even more logistically-challenging grid that also includes Austria and Great Britain.

Apart from Baku’s move to September, the other significant change from 2023 is that Qatar has been moved to become the penultimate race, forming another triple-header after Las Vegas and before the season-finale in Abu Dhabi.

Formula 1 2024 calendar

2 March Bahrain, Sakhir
9 March Saudi Arabia, Jeddah
24 March Australia, Melbourne
7 April Japan, Suzuka
21 April China, Shanghai
5 May Miami, Miami
19 May Emilia Romagna, Imola
26 May Monaco, Monte Carlo
9 June Canada, Montreal
23 June Spain, Barcelona
30 June Austria, Spielberg
7 July Great Britain, Silverstone
21 July Hungary, Budapest
28 July Belgium, Spa
25 August Netherland, Zandvoort
1 September Italy, Monza
15 September Azerbaijan, Baku
22 September Singapore, Marina Bay
20 October USA, Austin
27 October Mexico, Mexico City
3 November Brazil, Interlagos
23 November Las Vegas, Las Vegas
1 December Qatar, Losail
8 December Abu Dhabi, Yas Island

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