Formula One race calendar for 2024

Formula One will have a record 24 races in the season that starts in Bahrain on Saturday. The calendar is as follows:

1. Bahrain (Sakhir) - March 2

The Middle East's first race celebrates its 20th anniversary, held on a Saturday to accommodate Ramadan. The track is abrasive, with wind also a factor. Lewis Hamilton has won five times in Bahrain. Fernando Alonso is the only driver still racing who took part in the 2004 debut.

2. Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) - March 9

Sergio Perez won last year, one of only three that Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen did not win. The Corniche layout is the season's second longest and the fastest street circuit. It will also be held on a Saturday.

3. Australia (Melbourne) - March 24

Albert Park is a home race for McLaren's Oscar Piastri and RB's Daniel Ricciardo but no Australian has ever won in Australia. Hamilton has been on pole a record eight times in Melbourne and McLaren have won a record 11 times.

4. Japan (Suzuka) - April 7

Held in September last year. Red Bull clinched the constructors' title at Honda-owned Suzuka in 2023 with Verstappen's second successive Japanese win. The figure eight circuit is a home for RB's Yuki Tsunoda. It has been 20 years since Ferrari's last win, with Michael Schumacher in 2004.

5. China (Shanghai) - April 21

Absent from the calendar since 2019, when Hamilton won for Mercedes, Shanghai hosts a sprint race for the first time. Sauber's Guanyu Zhou will be the first Chinese F1 driver to race in front of his home crowd.

6. Miami - May 5

The fifth round of the season last year and a key moment. Verstappen and Perez were on two wins each, but Miami began a record run of 10 in a row for Verstappen. This year, Miami hosts a sprint for the first time. One of three home races for Williams' Logan Sargeant.

7. Emilia Romagna (Imola) - May 19

Cancelled last year due to flooding, the anti-clockwise track is fast, bumpy and narrow. Named after Ferrari founder Enzo and son Dino, the track is also a memorial to Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, who died over the 1994 race weekend.

8. Monaco - May 26

Now perhaps overtaken by flashier new venues, Monaco has history and glamour and is home for many drivers. The shortest track is also the race with the most laps and least overtaking. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc can become the first home winner.

9. Canada (Montreal) - June 9

The race came after Monaco and Spain last year. A home race for Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and team owner father Lawrence. Hamilton picked up his first F1 win here and has a joint record (with Schumacher) of seven in Montreal. Verstappen has won the last two.

10. Spain (Barcelona) - June 23

The start of a European triple-header with Austria and Britain. Verstappen recorded his first F1 win here in 2016. Hamilton shares the record of six wins with Schumacher. Alonso and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz are the home drivers.

11. Austria (Spielberg) - June 30

Red Bull's home race and a sprint race again. Only 10 corners and the shortest race in terms of time. Verstappen has won four times in Spielberg, which attracts a large contingent of his Dutch fans.

12. Britain (Silverstone) - July 7

On the calendar since season one in 1950, and a home race for Hamilton, teammate George Russell and McLaren's Lando Norris. Hamilton has won a record eight times and been on pole in seven with 13 podium appearances.

13. Hungary (Budapest) - July 21

Hamilton has won a record eight times. Verstappen took his first F1 pole here in 2019, Alonso his first win in 2003.

14. Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps) - July 28

Norris and Verstappen both have Belgian mothers, making Spa something of a home race. Verstappen has won three times in a row. A lap is the longest in F1 and one of the fastest.

15. Netherlands (Zandvoort) - August 25

Verstappen's home race. He has won every year since it returned to the calendar in 2021. Zandvoort, in the coastal sand dunes, is distinctly old school.

16. Italy (Monza) - September 1

The Temple of Speed outside Milan hosts Ferrari's home race. Hamilton and Schumacher share the record of five wins each at a circuit with long straights and 11 corners.

17. Azerbaijan (Baku) - September 15

Held in April last year and won by Perez for the second time in three years. It remains his most recent victory. Baku's street circuit has been on the calendar since 2016 and Perez is the only repeat winner.

18. Singapore - September 22

The only race Red Bull failed to win last year, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz victorious. The hot and humid night race is one of the season's biggest physical challenges.

19. United States (Austin) - October 20

The start of the second triple-header of the year, Austin will again be a sprint race. All the races at the undulating anti-clockwise Texas track have been won from the front row of the grid. Sargeant scored his only point so far last year.

20. Mexico (Mexico City) - October 27

Verstappen has won five of the last six Mexican GPs, last year becoming the first driver to win 16 races in a season. Hamilton sealed his 2017 and 2018 championships in Mexico.

21. Brazil (Sao Paulo) - November 3

The only circuit to have hosted a sprint every year since the format debuted in 2021, Interlagos will again have a sprint this year.

22. Las Vegas - November 23

The famed Strip made its F1 debut last year as the penultimate race, and on a Saturday night. A loose drain cover played havoc with practice. The start of the third and final triple-header this season.

23. Qatar (Lusail) - December 1

Verstappen clinched his third championship in a row in a Saturday sprint last year. Qatar was the 17th round in 2023 and held in October, when the extreme heat proved a problem for the main race. The weekend is again scheduled as a sprint.

24. Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) - December 8

Verstappen has won this for the last four years, in controversial circumstances in 2021, when he beat Hamilton for his first title.