2024 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix may take place in autumn

British Formula 1 journalist Joe Saward has claimed that the next edition of the motorsport race in Azerbaijan may be shifted from spring to autumn.

Saward explained it with the upcoming changes in the 2024 F1 calendar in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the Ramadan holiday coincidence.

"This problem aside, the 2024 calendar is beginning to come together, although it will be a few more weeks before we get any official confirmation. The big thing that no one has talked about yet is that the first two races of the year will be held on Saturday nights, rather than on Sunday afternoons. This makes a lot of sense for the local organisers as in the Islamic world the “weekend” usually means Friday and Saturday, rather than the Western Saturday-Sunday. In the Arab world, Sunday is a working day," Saward wrote in his personal blog.

"The change is not due to this, however, but rather because of Ramadan, which is the period of religious devotion that makes it incompatible with Formula 1 racing. Ramadan begins on Sunday, March 10 and so the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has to be on the evening of Saturday, March 9, and in order to get everything moved in the limited time available, the Bahrain GP will move forward a day to Saturday, March 2. This will follow the pre-season tests at the Bahrain International Circuit over the last weekend of February.

According to him, the dates mentioned above do not include Baku.

"The impression I get is that this race will be off to explore the autumn months, probably on the way to Singapore, as there is a gap now with Japan jumping to the spring," Saward wrote.