THE kingdom has rolled out the red carpet for fans from across the world as Formula One fever erupts in style in the build-up to this coming weekend’s sporting spectacular.

The streets of Bahrain have been decked out with chequered and national flags ahead of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

The race celebrations kicked off last night at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), with its hugely popular Pit Lane Walk, with the main activities taking place today, tomorrow and Saturday.

Approximately 8,000 national and chequered flags have been placed on roads and highways leading to Sakhir, where thousands of motorsport fans will flock over the coming days.

Three top championships will be supporting F1 throughout the weekend, its leading feeder categories – the Formula 2 Championship and the FIA Formula 3 Championship – alongside the region’s top one-make series, the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME).

Both F2 and F3 are holding the opening rounds of their 2024 seasons at BIC, while the PCCME will be staging its fifth and penultimate meeting of its 2023/2024 campaign.

All these are set to hit the tarmac alongside the highly-anticipated season-opening round of the 2024 F1 World Championship, as Bahrain celebrates ‘20 Years of a Modern Classic’, marking its milestone 20th anniversary in motor racing’s top flight.

The grand prix will also be the first-ever F1 Saturday night race in Sakhir and, according to a BIC spokesperson, it promises to be a ‘record-breaking event’, with tickets to BIC’s grandstands having already completely sold out.

Today’s racing action will kick off at 9.45am, with the first practice session for the PCCME. This will be followed by practice sessions for F3 and F2, starting at 10.55am and 12.05pm, respectively.

At 2.30pm, the first F1 practice session will flag off, followed by qualifying sessions for F3 and F2 at 4pm and 4.55pm, respectively.

Under the lights, at 6pm, the second practice session for F1 teams will take place, followed by the PCCME’s second practice session at 7.30pm.

Off the track, entertainment will include concerts, thrilling circus performers and colourful roaming acts, sure to entertain the entire family.

Among the roaming entertainers are the Puglia Street Band, Carnival de Colores, AJ Batucada, TikTak Marionettes, Stevie Wheels and Juggling Dom.

There will also be carnival rides; kids’ shows featuring some of their favourite Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol and Shimmer and Shine; an extreme circus; an F1 Fanzone with many activities offering a genuine F1 experience, and so much more.

The entertainment highlights of the weekend will be live musical performances by world-renowned industry icons, including a concert tomorrow night by Grammy Award-winning artist Zedd and a post-race Saturday night concert by DJ and producer Diplo.

 

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