24 races, Chinese GP to return

Formula 1 will make another attempt at running a record 24-race calendar next year, having released its proposed schedule for the 2024 season.

Next year’s calendar is similar to the one originally announced for 2023, with the Chinese GP set to return and no new events added.

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

This year’s inaugural Las Vegas has paved the way for a return to Saturday race days, which used to be traditional in South Africa, and, up until 1977, at Silverstone.

The 2024 calendar also reflects efforts by the F1 organisation to address logistical and sustainability issues, with some races grouped together in a more logical fashion based on geography – notably the Middle Eastern events.

Seen as a key market by F1 and Liberty Media, China was included on the provisional 2023 schedule, which also contained 24 races.

However, due to the lingering effects of COVID-19 it was dropped 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.

This year there was a gap between the Bahrain and Saudi races, as teams were reluctant 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 significant reduction 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.

F1 has long said that some established races may have to move from their traditional dates, and Japan has switched from its usual late season slot to early April.

Suzuka in effect has traded places with Azerbaijan, which now sits ahead of Singapore in a September double-header.

Similar to the calendar for this season, Imola is followed immediately by Monaco, but in a change, the two races are no longer part of a triple-header with Spain.

The Barcelona event has instead moved to a slot in late June as the first part of an even more logistically-challenging triple-header 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.

The latter two races both take place in December, making 2024 the…