Bahrain Grand Prix: stage preview

The Bahrain Grand Prix will be the 75th race in Formula 1 history that will not be held on Sunday. And usually the races took place on Saturdays, although there were stages on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

In 2023, the Vegas leg was held on Saturday and this year three races will be held on Saturday local time – in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas.

In Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the schedule has been shifted by one day to allow time to carry out two double phases before March 10, when the month of Ramadan begins in the Muslim world.

The starting time of the sessions has also changed slightly; on Saturday and Sunday these were moved to a later time. This weekend, in addition to Formula 1, the Formula 2 and Formula 3 seasons also start, so we all have something to watch.

This weekend’s race is the 20th Bahrain Grand Prix, but the 21st Formula 1 event at this circuit – the Sakhir Grand Prix – was also held in 2020.

The season hasn’t started this early since 1992. The first race then took place on March 1 at the newly renovated Kyalami circuit, which disappeared from the calendar a year later. For years they tried to return the South African Grand Prix, but no funds have yet been found.

For the sixth time, the season starts with a race in Bahrain. If all the stages happen, we will have the longest season in history: 24 Grand Prix with many double and triple stages. The road series of six stages in different time zones (calendar optimization by Liberty Media) will last until mid-May, when Formula 1 returns to Europe with the race in Imola. Given the complex logistics and the usual shortage of spare parts at the start of the season, the riders will try to avoid accidents over the next two months.

However, not everything depends on the riders. The drainage hatch at Turn 11 broke two days in a row during testing in Bahrain, causing damage to the underside of three cars. The cars were repaired and it was decided to concrete the pits – the probability of rain in the desert at this time of year tends to zero, and the world does not know how the owners of the highway will later clear them of concrete. Formula 1 goes to Jeddah. But FIA requirements require there to be drains, so they will have to be repaired by next year.

New season – new hope. Here’s to an interesting battle, to unexpected changes, to the impending arrival of summer, finally. The low season has already given us several surprises. Throughout the year they will discuss Hamilton’s impending move to Ferrari, the search for a new team for Sainz, and compare Komatsu and Steiner.

If at the beginning of this season the driver line-up remained the same for the first time in the history of Formula 1, then this year we will face serious changes, which will add intrigue and interest. They’re already happening.

Regulation ’22 has been in existence for two years this year. They say that if expectations are at least half met, that’s a good thing. It has become easier to fight and overtake on circuits where this was previously possible, but the effect is far from what Liberty Media expected when it developed the regulations according to its own scenario.

It is difficult to judge the balance of power based on the results of the tests, but apparently Red Bull Racing will once again have no rivals, and from the point of view of ticket sales and television broadcasts this is a negative scenario for Liberty Media. And this experience should be taken into account when developing regulations for 2026.

Formula 1 has almost always been dominated by one person. The law of the genre. But Liberty thinks in different terms. This is a business that requires growing ratings, more expensive contracts and an increase in the number of phases. Every year everything should become bigger and more expensive. And if for Bernie Ecclestone it was a kind of art, for the American company it was a cold calculation.

Happy season, friends!