The Formula 1 World Championship has announced a reduction in the duration of the first free practice sessions on Fridays next season from 1.5 hours to one hour, aimed at making them more exciting since most teams do not put their cars on the track for the entire one and a half hours. The time for the third free practice session preceding qualifying will remain one hour.
Liberty Media, the rights holder for the championship, also announced a return to the race start times prior to 2018, with races starting on the hour instead of 10 minutes past the hour. Races will begin at 2:00 PM local time for the city hosting the Grand Prix.
Liberty Media had previously delayed the race start time by one hour and added 10 minutes for the majority of races to allow fans to follow the events on the grid before the race starts, with broadcasters covering the preparation live at the top of the hour. This creates a 10-minute window for fans to observe the last-minute preparations of teams. This exception does not apply to night races, which will start at 3:10 PM local time. This change aims to enhance viewer engagement and schedule races at suitable times for various markets. Notably, the new season will kick off on March 28 in Bahrain at 6:00 PM under the floodlights at the Sakhir Circuit.
