{"id":3069,"date":"2026-10-01T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3069"},"modified":"2026-09-30T15:41:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:41:27","slug":"what-time-is-f1-practice-at-sepang-friday-fp1-and-fp2-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/what-time-is-f1-practice-at-sepang-friday-fp1-and-fp2-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"What time is F1 practice at Sepang? Friday FP1 and FP2 schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>FP1 starts at 12:30 in Malaysia on Friday, 2 October, followed by FP2 at 16:00.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UK viewers can follow the sessions at 05:30 and 09:00 BST; India\u2019s start times are 10:00 and 13:30 IST.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On the US and Canadian West Coast, FP1 begins on Thursday evening, 1 October, at 21:30 PDT.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">F1<\/a> practice at Sepang begins on <strong>Friday, 2 October, at 12:30 local time<\/strong>, with the opening session of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. FP2 follows at <strong>16:00<\/strong>, with both sessions scheduled to last one hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For viewers in the United Kingdom, that means an early start: FP1 begins at <strong>05:30 BST<\/strong> and FP2 at <strong>09:00 BST<\/strong>. In India, the sessions start at <strong>10:00 IST<\/strong> and <strong>13:30 IST<\/strong>, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fans in the United States and Canada need to pay particular attention to the date. First practice starts just after midnight on Friday on the East Coast, while viewers on the West Coast can watch it on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Friday F1 practice times at Sepang<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Country \/ city<\/th><th>Time zone<\/th><th>FP1<\/th><th>FP2<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Malaysia \u2014 Sepang<\/td><td>MYT<\/td><td>Friday 2, 12:30<\/td><td>Friday 2, 16:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United Kingdom \u2014 London<\/td><td>BST<\/td><td>Friday 2, 05:30<\/td><td>Friday 2, 09:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United States \u2014 New York<\/td><td>EDT<\/td><td>Friday 2, 00:30<\/td><td>Friday 2, 04:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United States \u2014 Los Angeles<\/td><td>PDT<\/td><td><strong>Thursday 1, 21:30<\/strong><\/td><td>Friday 2, 01:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Canada \u2014 Toronto \/ Montreal<\/td><td>EDT<\/td><td>Friday 2, 00:30<\/td><td>Friday 2, 04:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Canada \u2014 Vancouver<\/td><td>PDT<\/td><td><strong>Thursday 1, 21:30<\/strong><\/td><td>Friday 2, 01:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>India \u2014 New Delhi \/ Mumbai<\/td><td>IST<\/td><td>Friday 2, 10:00<\/td><td>Friday 2, 13:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Sydney \/ Melbourne \/ Brisbane<\/td><td>AEST<\/td><td>Friday 2, 14:30<\/td><td>Friday 2, 18:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Adelaide<\/td><td>ACST<\/td><td>Friday 2, 14:00<\/td><td>Friday 2, 17:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Perth<\/td><td>AWST<\/td><td>Friday 2, 12:30<\/td><td>Friday 2, 16:00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Dates correspond to the local time in each location. Session times remain subject to changes by the organisers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FP1 is scheduled to run from <strong>12:30 to 13:30 MYT<\/strong>, while FP2 takes place from <strong>16:00 to 17:00 MYT<\/strong>. There are two hours and 30 minutes between the end of the first session and the beginning of the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Friday timetable gives teams two opportunities to assess their cars before final practice and qualifying on Saturday. Readers can find the remaining session times in <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/when-is-the-next-f1-race-after-the-2026-azerbaijan-grand-prix-date-start-time-and-full-schedule\/\">the complete Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there a Sprint at Sepang?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is <strong>no Sprint<\/strong> at the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The weekend follows the traditional format, with FP1 and FP2 on Friday, followed by FP3 and qualifying on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Third practice begins on Saturday, 3 October, at <strong>12:30 MYT<\/strong>, and qualifying starts at <strong>16:00 MYT<\/strong>. Those sessions therefore repeat Friday\u2019s start times in the UK, North America, India and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The race starts on Sunday, 4 October, at <strong>15:00 in Malaysia<\/strong>. That corresponds to <strong>08:00 BST<\/strong>, <strong>03:00 EDT<\/strong> and <strong>12:30 IST<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Australia\u2019s clocks change before the race<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Australian viewers should distinguish Friday\u2019s practice times from Sunday\u2019s race conversion. Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide begin daylight saving time on Sunday, 4 October, while Brisbane and Perth keep their existing offsets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Friday\u2019s sessions therefore take place at <strong>14:30 and 18:00 AEST<\/strong> in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. On Sunday, the race starts at <strong>18:00 AEDT<\/strong> in Sydney and Melbourne, but <strong>17:00 AEST<\/strong> in Brisbane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is the Bahrain Grand Prix being held at Sepang?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event retains the Bahrain Grand Prix name while taking place at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The background to the relocation is explained in <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/why-is-the-2026-bahrain-grand-prix-taking-place-in-malaysia\/\">why the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix is taking place in Malaysia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The weekend also marks Formula 1\u2019s first race at Sepang since 2017. Friday\u2019s practice sessions will provide the first competitive indication of how the current cars perform at a circuit returning after nine years, as explored in <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/f1-last-raced-at-sepang-in-2017-what-changes-for-its-2026-return\/\">what has changed since F1 last raced at Sepang<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia runs from <strong>2\u20134 October<\/strong>, with the race scheduled for 56 laps on Sunday. <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover the practice sessions, qualifying and race throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">F1 today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What time is F1 qualifying at Sepang?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qualifying starts on Saturday, 3 October, at 16:00 Malaysia time. That is 09:00 BST in the UK, 04:00 EDT in New York and Toronto, 01:00 PDT in Los Angeles and Vancouver, 13:30 IST in India and 18:00 AEST in Sydney. <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/what-time-is-f1-qualifying-at-sepang-saturday-fp3-and-qualifying-schedule\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"> <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did Lewis Hamilton receive a grid penalty for the Bortoleto incident?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Hamilton received a warning after impeding Gabriel Bortoleto during FP2 at Sepang. Ferrari was fined \u20ac10,000, but Hamilton will not lose grid positions over the incident. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skysports.com\/f1\/video\/13594263\/bahrain-gp-in-malaysia-lewis-hamilton-under-investigation-for-allegedly-impeding-gabriel-bortoleto?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"> <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why were F1 lap times at Sepang over four seconds slower than expected?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pirelli identified low grip, dust and an abrasive surface that increased tyre sliding and degradation. Friday\u2019s benchmark was more than four seconds slower than its qualifying simulation reference, rather than four seconds slower than the 2017 race weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia starts on Friday, 2 October, at 05:30 BST, 00:30 EDT and 10:00 IST. Here are the times for both Friday sessions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020316378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Sepang hosted F1 from 1999 to 2017","42wp_featured_image_credits":"F1","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":4,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[630,325,661,113],"42wp_author":[4],"class_list":["post-3069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-bahrain-grand-prix-in-malaysia","tag-f1-2026","tag-f1-practice-times","tag-sepang","42wp_author-evelyn-guimaraes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3070,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions\/3070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020316378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3069"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}