Mar.18 (GMM) Saudi Arabia is yet to be assigned the top spot on next year’s Formula 1 calendar.
That is despite the fact that, late last year, organisers of the Australian GP admitted in a statement that Jeddah will “host the first race of the 2024 season out of respect for Ramadan”.
Indeed, the Muslim holy month begins in mid March next year, which is part of the reason why F1 apparently agreed that Saudi Arabia would get the opening race of 2024 prior to that.
However, Saudi Arabia’s automobile federation chief Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Faisal Al-Saud said at the Jeddah street circuit on Friday: “It’s still too early.
“We would love to have the opening race, and I’m sure this is something that we should discuss now before the announcement of the calendar,” he added.
“We want to see the feedback of the teams because we want what’s best for FOM and what’s best for the teams. If it’s the best solution we would love to have the opening race, but nothing is set now.”
The Saudi official admits that the 2024 season opener will either be in Saudi Arabia “or Bahrain” – because for both of those venues, waiting until after Ramadan would result in excessively hot weather.
“We saw when races used to happen in April in Bahrain it was too hot,” he said.
“Otherwise, it will shift to somewhere like October, or after October, where the weather starts to get better in our region.”
Join Grand Prix Tours as we head to Miami, Florida for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. Located in vibrant Miami, encircling Hardrock Stadium, this is a premier event with limited attendance and will sell out fast!
SHOW PACKAGES
2023 marks the historic 80th anniversary of the iconic Monaco Grand Prix. Widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world the Monaco Grand Prix is still truly the crown jewel of Formula 1.
SHOW PACKAGES
Get ready to join Grand Prix Tours as we head to Austria for the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix. The now famous Red Bull Ring rarely disappoints and is a must see for all race fans.
SHOW PACKAGES
Grand Prix Tours has once again orchestrated the perfect race weekend for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix which has a new earlier date of July 30th.
SHOW PACKAGES