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

Get set for a brand new season of Formula 1 live on Sky Sports with the first race from Bahrain; the Grand Prix is TODAY!; Round two of the season in Saudi Arabia will follow the same schedule - Practice will be on Thursday, Qualifying on Friday and Grand Prix on Saturday

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Sky F1's Ted Kravitz analyses the key moments qualifying of the Bahrain GP.

Formula 1 is back! A record-24 race season live on Sky Sports F1 starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix today 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 was on Thursday and Qualifying was on Friday. The Grand Prix itself is on Saturday at 3pm.

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Watch highlights of the F1 2023 season opener at the Bahrain Grand Prix

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.

Bahrain GP's different schedule

Day Session Time
Thursday Practice 11.30am & 3pm
Friday Qualifying 4pm
Saturday Race 3pm

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 then Bahrain was moved to the same earlier schedule.

Also See:

How to watch and stream Sky Sports F1 live in 2024

Sky Sports F1 is the home of Formula 1 in the UK and Ireland and will again broadcast every session from every race weekend live in the 2024 season.

Subscribers can watch live race weekend coverage in a multitude of ways including on TV - Sky channel 406 - and on the Sky Sports app by logging in with their Sky iD.

The channel can also be streamed on NOW with a Sports Day or Month Membership without a contract.

Meanwhile, on the Sky Sports app, Race Control will again be available to logged-in subscribers allowing you to customise your own viewing with on-boards available from each of the 20 cars through the weekend so you can follow your favourite driver up close.

Here you can also watch the 'Battle Channel' - a split-screen offering focusing on a battle between up to three cars - in addition to switching between options for driver tracker, multi-screen, timing screen, onboard mix and, of course, the main live Sky Sports F1 channel feed itself. The service is also available on Sky Q and Sky Glass.

Sky Sports F1's live race-day Bahrain GP schedule

Saturday March 2

  • 8.55am: F3 Feature Race
  • 10.25am: F2 Feature Race
  • 1.30pm: Bahrain GP build-up: Grand Prix Saturday
  • 3pm: THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
  • 5pm: Bahrain GP reaction: Chequered Flag
  • 6pm: Ted's Notebook
  • 6.30pm: Bahrain GP highlights

Watch every round of the new season, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix from Thursday February 29 to Saturday March 2. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership

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