Exploring Bahrain's Time Zone: Understanding The Clock Difference

Bahrain is in the Arabia Standard Time zone, which is UTC/GMT +3 hours. The country does not observe daylight saving time. On Friday, November 8, 2024, at 10:37 pm in Bahrain, it was 5:51 am in Washington, DC.

Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying times

The Bahrain Grand Prix is a round of the Formula 1 World Championship. The qualifying session is split into three segments: Q1, Q2, and Q3. In Q1 and Q2, five cars are knocked out, and in Q3, the remaining drivers compete in a top-10 shootout for pole position.

In the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes took pole position with a time of 1m27.264s. Max Verstappen of Red Bull was close behind, with a time of 1m28.355s in the final free practice session before qualifying.

In the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, Verstappen took pole position with a time of 1m28.997s. He beat Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by three-tenths of a second. This was Verstappen's fourth career pole position and Red Bull's first since 2013.

In the 2021 qualifying session, Q1 was led by Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes, who set a pace of 1m31.200s. However, he was quickly overtaken by his teammate Hamilton, who clocked 1m30.617s. Verstappen then took the lead with a time of 1m30.499s, followed by AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda with a time of 1m30.607s.

In Q2, the majority of the leading runners ran on medium tyres, while rivals opted for faster softs. Leclerc of Ferrari went quickest with 1m30.010s, before his teammate Sainz beat him by 0.001s. Hamilton stayed in third place, with Norris and Bottas completing the top five.

In the final Q3 round, Hamilton set the early benchmark with 1m29.549s, but Verstappen beat him by 0.023s. However, on the second runs with new tyres, Hamilton briefly grabbed the top spot with 1m29.385s. Verstappen then delivered a stellar final lap, clocking 1m28.997s and taking pole position by almost four-tenths of a second.

The Bahrain Grand Prix is a highly competitive race, with close qualifying times and intense battles for pole position.

Bahrain Grand Prix race times

The Bahrain Grand Prix is a unique challenge for drivers and teams. It's a rear-limited circuit layout, which means the track features a lot of hard braking into corners and hard acceleration out of them. Bahrain is particularly harsh on rear tires, and degradation plays a big role in the race.

The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix took place from February 29 to March 2. Here is the schedule for the race:

Thursday, February 29

• Practice 1: 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. ET
• Practice 2: 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. ET

Friday, March 1

• Practice 3: 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. ET
• Qualifying: 11:00 a.m. - noon ET

Saturday, March 2

Grand Prix: 10:00 a.m. ET

Bahrain Grand Prix TV channels

The Bahrain Grand Prix is the first race of the 2024 Formula One season and takes place at the International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race will be broadcast live in nearly every country around the world. Here is a list of TV channels broadcasting the Bahrain Grand Prix in selected areas of the world's major regions:

North America

• USA: ESPN is showing the race live on US cable TV, and streaming options include ESPN+, Fubo, Hulu, Sling TV, and YouTube TV.
• Canada: English-language coverage is available on TSN or streamable via TSN Direct. French speakers can also catch the action on RDS or Noovo.
• Latin America: ESPN

Europe

• UK: Sky Sports' dedicated Formula 1 Channel, Sky Sports F1, with streaming services Sky Go and NOW TV.
• Austria: Servus TV / ORF
• Belgium: RTBF / Telenet / Play Sports
• Croatia: Sport Klub
• Czech Republic: AMC
• Denmark: TV3+ / TV3 Sport / Viaplay
• Greece: ANT1 / ANT1+
• Netherlands: Viaplay / Viaplay Xtra
• Norway: V sport 1 / V sport + / Viaplay
• Sweden: Viaplay / V sport motor / TV 10
• Switzerland: SRF / RSI / RTS

Asia

• China: CCTV / Shanghai TV / Guangdong Television Channel / Tencent
• Japan: Fuji TV / DAZN
• Malaysia: beIN SPORTS
• Indonesia: beIN SPORTS
• Singapore: beIN SPORTS
• Thailand: beIN SPORTS

Oceania

Australia: Fox Sports, Foxtel Go, Kayo, and Network Ten

Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying results

The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first race of the Formula 1 world championship season. The race was held on Saturday, March 2, instead of the usual Sunday, because of Ramadan.

Max Verstappen claimed the first pole position of the 2024 season in Bahrain, with Red Bull. He beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.228s. Leclerc's time in Q2 was the quickest of the day, but he couldn't replicate it in Q3.

George Russell came third in his Mercedes, followed by Carlos Sainz in fourth and Sergio Perez in fifth.

The rest of the top ten was made up of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in sixth, the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in seventh and eighth, and Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg in ninth and tenth, respectively.

It was a disappointing qualifying for Alpine, with both drivers in the final two places on the grid and out in the first session.

Bahrain Grand Prix highlights

The 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen make a dream start to his campaign as he romped to victory, leading home teammate Sergio Perez in an emphatic Red Bull one-two finish. Starting from pole position, the Dutchman led from start to finish, crossing the line more than 10 seconds ahead of Perez.

There was drama at the start as Lance Stroll ran into the back of teammate Fernando Alonso, and Nico Hulkenberg clipped Esteban Ocon. There was further drama for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc was forced to retire after his car suffered a huge failure, costing him a probable podium finish and some vital championship points. This opened the door for Alonso to claim his 99th career podium finish in F1, as he pushed fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz out of P3.

Verstappen's victory was a perfect start to his world championship title defence, and the race itself was a perfect race for the Red Bull driver, who effectively led from start to finish. The Dutchman's only minor problem was a struggle with his downshifts, but this didn't stop him from finishing way ahead of the rest of the field.

Alonso's move to Aston Martin from Alpine last season raised a few eyebrows, but his decision was vindicated in Bahrain as he fought Lewis Hamilton and Sainz on the track for the final step on the podium. The veteran first pulled a great move at turn ten, slipping down the inside of Hamilton, before out-dragging Sainz down the back straight to claim the 99th podium of his career.

The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix also saw a Red Bull one-two, with Verstappen taking the victory, and Sainz completing the podium.

Frequently asked questions