2016 F1 calendar released

Oct 1, 2015
2 min read

Last night the FIA published the calendar for the 2016 Formula One season, having been approved by the World Motor Sport Council at a meeting in Paris.

The biggest changes from the provisional calendar include bringing the season opener in Melbourne forward from April 3 to March 20, with China and Bahrain swapping places to make Bahrain the second race of the season.

Other races have been moved around compared to this year’s calendar. Russia will now be the fourth race of the year on May 1, and Malaysia has moved to the beginning of October between Singapore and Japan.

Of course, the introduction of Baku in Azerbaijan for the European Grand Prix is one of the most notable differences between 2015 and 2016, making it a 21-race calendar. The race, however, will clash with the Le Mans 24 Hour race, but race organisers are taking steps to avoid this in terms of the race start time.

The British Grand Prix previously clashed with the London ePrix and the Dutch TT, all three of which are popular events for British motorsport fans. However, the Grand Prix has been to July 10 to avoid this, but this means it will now coincide with the Wimbledon finals.

What was previously expected to be a “condensed” calendar now looks to be more spaced out, with six back to back events and the return of the summer break which was not on the provisional calendar.

The start of winter testing has been brought forward by eight days, with the first test at the Circuit de Catalunya running from February 22-25, and only a four day break between the two pre-season tests rather than the planned eleven.

2016 Formula One calendar

February 22-25 – Test 1

March 1-4 – Test 2

March 20 – Australia April 3 – Bahrain April 17 – China May 1 – Russia May 15 – Spain May 29 – Monaco June 12 – Canada June 19 – Azerbaijan July 3 – Austria July 10 – Britain July 24 – Hungary July 31 – Germany August 28 – Belgium September 4 – Italy September 18 – Singapore October 2 – Malaysia October 9 – Japan