Bahrain GP: Sky Sports F1 live schedule for F1 2024 season-opener with Saturday

Get set for a brand new season of Formula 1 live on Sky Sports with the first race from Bahrain this coming week; Make a note of the different schedule: Practice is on Thursday, Qualifying is on Friday, and the Grand Prix is on SATURDAY at the season’s opening two rounds;

Formula 1 is back! A record-24 race season live on Sky Sports F1 starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix this week as battles for 2024 success commence and rivalries renew on track.

After a busy and unpredictable winter off-season was followed by three days of testing in Bahrain, the new 2024 cars will get their competitive debuts under floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit as the chasing pack look to close up to world champions Red Bull and Max Verstappen this year.

The opening race weekend – as is the case with the following week’s second round in Saudi Arabia – starts a day earlier than normal, meaning Practice will be on Thursday, Qualifying on Friday and the Grand Prix itself on Saturday.

Sky F1 will be live from Wednesday in Bahrain to kick off and preview the season, with the Drivers’ Press Conference and a special season-opening preview edition of The F1 Show airing live.

Then it’s into the track action from just before lunchtime on Thursday with Practice as drivers build up to Qualifying on Friday at 4pm and then the season-opening 57-lap Grand Prix on Saturday at 3pm.

In addition to the Formula 1 action, the new Formula 2 and Formula 3 seasons begin in Bahrain too and all their track running is also being shown live on the channel.

Why does the opening race take place on Saturday?

In a schedule change for both of the season’s opening back-to-back rounds in the Middle East, the race weekend starts a day earlier than normal.

That is because the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is due to start on Sunday March 10, the day the Saudi Arabian race would normally have taken place.

To avoid a clash, the schedule for Jeddah event had to be moved forward by a day – meaning the race was shifted to Saturday, qualifying to Friday and practice to Thursday – and as FIA rules dictate that there must be a full seven days between Grands Prix…