This year’s highly anticipated Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix is set to open the 2024 FIA F1 World Championship, and it will be the Kingdom’s first-ever Saturday night race, making for an additional spectacle to the weekend’s 20th anniversary celebrations at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Details of the event, taking place 29 February to 2 March at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”, were announced yesterday at the official launch. On hand were Minister of Tourism Fatima bint Jaffer Al Sairafi, BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, and Gulf Air Chief Executive Captain Waleed Al Alawi.
“The hype for this year’s race is already significant, with fans across the world wanting to come to Bahrain for the first race of 2024 and celebrate our 20th anniversary,” Shaikh Salman said.
“With our race sold out in record time last year, we expect the demand to continue this year so I would urge fans to book their tickets as soon as possible.” At yesterday’s launch, Shaikh Salman and Captain Al Alawi unveiled 2004 and 2024 F1 show cars. These will also be displayed at various locations across the Kingdom in the lead-up to the grand prix weekend, as part of BIC’s nation-wide fan-engagement activities to get Bahrain buzzing with excitement.
Testing
Prior to the race weekend, BIC is also set to host three days of F1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2024 from February 21 to 23. The three days of on-track running will be the F1 teams’ and drivers’ only chance to sample their 2024 contenders ahead of the start of this year’s FIA F1 World Championship, taking place just one week later.
BIC will be announcing details in due course on how fans will be able to watch the testing and get a glimpse of the new cars and F1’s star protagonists in action. Bahrain has become the ideal venue for F1 to hold its pre-season tests, with teams able to get maximum time out on BIC’s 5.412-kilometre track.
This year’s sessions will mark the fourth straight year that testing is being held at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.
Fully booked
Shaikh Salman revealed yesterday that the circuit’s Corporate Lounges have already completely sold out for this year’s race weekend.
The circuit chief hailed the tremendous response to BIC’s Early Bird promotions in grandstand ticket sales. He highlighted the immense interest of F1 fans coming to Bahrain from overseas. Last year’s grand prix welcomed over 10,000 international supporters who travelled to the Kingdom from all corners of the globe— the most ever in the history of Bahrain’s F1 extravaganza.
Non-stop racing
The F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024 will be the sixth time the Kingdom will have the honour of hosting the opening round of the new F1 season. But it is not the only international race series that will be kicking off its 2024 campaign in Sakhir.
Both the FIA Formula 2 Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship will also be launching their calendars at BIC, with the future stars of F1 lining up on the grid to showcase their prowess to the world. Also set to support F1 will be the BIC-born and bred Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East.
The region’s leading one-make series will be holding its fifth and penultimate round in Sakhir, with competitors from all over the world driving identical Porsche 992 GT3 Cup cars. Yesterday’s launch was just the first of a series of exciting fan-engagement activities held as part of Bahrain GP Live Weekend, organised by BIC.
The festivities continue today and tomorrow from 10am to 11pm at The Avenues Bahrain. The attractions at Bahrain GP Live Weekend include F1 race simulators, F1 show cars from 2004 and 2024, a soft games area, a balloon twister performer, a henna artist, face painting for kids, and much more. All are welcome to enjoy the experience, completely free of charge.
