2024 F1 Bahrain GP: How to watch, TV times on ESPN
The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship starts next weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix, and here’s how you can watch the action in the United States.
When is the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix?
Unusually, this year’s race takes place on Saturday 2 March at 10:00am ET at Bahrain International Circuit.
Because of the start of Ramadan on Sunday 10 March, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been brought forward one day to be held on the Saturday night.
The reason that the season opener in Bahrain also takes place a week earlier on Saturday has to do with F1 rules, as the regulations stipulate that there must be at least a week between two races.
This forced the Bahrain season opener to be moved one day earlier as well, to accommodate for it.
So, there are two free practice sessions on Thursday, and one on Friday before qualifying.
Bahrain GP F1 schedule
Thursday 29 February
Session |
Time |
Practice 1: |
6:30am-7:30am ET |
Practice 2: |
10:00am-11:00am ET |
Friday 1 March
Session |
Time |
Practice 3: |
7.30pm-8:30am ET |
Qualifying: |
11:00am-12:00am ET |
Saturday 2 March
Session |
Time |
Race: |
10:00am ET |
Which TV channel shows F1 in the USA?
All Formula 1 races will be shown live on U.S. TV by either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC this year, as well as being streamed live or on-demand via its digital platform.
To make sure you don’t miss any of the action across practice, qualifying or racing – which will vary across its channels during the season – here’s how to tune in this weekend.
Bahrain GP ESPN TV schedule
Thursday 29 February
Session/show |
Time |
Channel |
Practice 1: |
6:25am ET |
ESPN2 |
Practice 2: |
9:55am ET |
ESPN2 |
F1 Show |
11:10am ET |
ESPN3 |
Friday 1 March
Session/show |
Time |
Channel |
Practice 3: |
7.25pm ET |
ESPN2 |
Qualifying: |
10:55am ET |
ESPN2 |
Ted’s Qualifying Notebook: |
1:00pm ET |
ESPN3 |
Saturday 2 March
Session/show |
Time |
Channel |
Grand Prix Sunday |
8:30m ET |
ESPN |
Race: |
9.55am ET |
ESPN |
Checkered Flag: |
12:00pm ET |
ESPN3 |
Ted’s Notebook: |
1:00pm ET |
ESPN3 |
Race re-air |
8:00pm ET |
ESPNews |
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Erik Junius
What happened in last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix?
Max Verstappen dominated from pole position for Red Bull, beating team-mate Sergio Perez by almost 12s.
Fernando Alonso was best of the rest for Aston Martin, beating Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
Charles Leclerc qualified third and ran second early on, but suffered a mechanical failure that caused a virtual safety car period.
Can I stream live F1 races in America?
Viewers in the United States can subscribe to F1 TV (f1tv.formula1.com) to stream the race on a device of their choice or via ESPN’s digital platform (espn.com/watch) with subscriptions.
All sessions will be streamed on the ESPN app and be available on demand.
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