The FIA has confirmed the starting times for all 120 official Formula 1 grand prix sessions which will take place this year.
Each of the 24 rounds on the 2024 F1 calendar will feature five sessions, the configurations of which will vary between regular grand prix weekends and six sprint rounds. The sprint event format was altered earlier this month.
In a change for this year, qualifying for the grand prix will be the final session which takes place before the main event. Sprint races had occupied this slot, at the rounds where they were held, since the format’s introduction in 2021.
This year’s sprint races will be the first session to take place on Saturdays, before grand prix qualifying. The extra qualifying sessions for sprint races have moved from Saturdays to Fridays, after first practice.
The FIA delayed confirming the start times of these sessions until the changes to the sprint format were approved. Now it has been, the schedule of sprint races has been made official.
The Chinese Grand Prix will be the first sprint round. Its sprint race will start at 11am local time, which is 5am for most of Europe, 4am in the UK and 11pm on Friday night for viewers on the east coast of America.
The remaining sprint races will take place in Miami, Red Bull Ring, Circuit of the Americas, Interlagos and Losail.
The FIA also confirmed changes to the starting times for the Las Vegas Grand Prix practice and qualifying sessions. These will begin two hours earlier than last year, following complaints over what F1 personnel described as a “brutal” schedule. The grand prix start time remains unchanged as previously announced.
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