2016 to start later than normal

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RicME85
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2016 to start later than normal

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2016 Formula 1 season won't start till April with Australian GP
Formula 1 is set for its latest season start since 1988 next year, with the 2016 season-opening Australian Grand Prix scheduled for April 3 as a back-to-back with China.

As part of a surprise move to condense the F1 calendar, Melbourne announced that it has been awarded an April 3 race date next season.

The F1 season has begun in March every year since the 1988 championship started with the Brazilian GP at Rio on the same date.

Melbourne's shift from its recent mid-March date will force an earlier race start, as sunset will take place an hour earlier due to the clocks changing.

It is possible that the race time could shift forward to a 3pm local time start, but this has not yet been finalised.

Australian GP CEO Andrew Westacott said: "The new date will see an earlier start time, and fans can expect the same great on-track action and off-track entertainment across the four days."

AUTOSPORT understands that the shift back in race date was decided by Formula One Management, and there has not yet been any official explanation about the reasons behind the move.

It is suggested however that the make-up of the provisional calendar is aimed at reducing lengthy gaps in the schedule to ensure that there is a regular run of races.

This year, for example, there was a two-week gap between Australia and Malaysia, plus a three-week gap between the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix.

Such breaks between races have been minimised in the new schedule, with sources suggesting that China has been provisionally handed a slot as the second race of the campaign - taking place the weekend after Australia on April 10.

It is unclear why FOM has been pushing for a condensed calendar, but it could be a way of helping reduce costs for teams and F1 personnel.

It would minimise the need for returns to Europe and maximise interest in the sport due to there being no downtime between events.

There has been no word, however, on how many events the current 2016 calendar has, or if the Italian Grand Prix has kept its slot.

Such an early release of calendar information, which normally only comes around September, has prompted speculation that a condensed calendar could be used as part of a negotiating tactic to get teams to agree to more races.

The calendar will likely be discussed at the next meeting of F1's Strategy Group on May 14, and will still need ratifying by F1's governing body later this year.

May starts were commonplace in the world championship's early years - although F1's formative seasons also featured plenty of January kick-offs between the later-starting campaigns.

January season-openers then became the norm for a spell in the 1970s and early 1980s, with South American and South African dates often scheduled just days into the new year.

But bar a brief mid-1980s period when Rio's race (pictured) happened in April, March starts have been standard for most of the last three decades.

1950: May 13, British GP (Silverstone)
1951: May 27, Swiss GP (Bremgarten)
1952: May 18, Swiss GP (Bremgarten)
1959: May 10, Monaco GP
1961: May 14, Monaco GP
1962: May 20, Dutch GP (Zandvoort)
1963: May 26, Monaco GP
1964: May 10, Monaco GP
1966: May 22, Monaco GP
1985: April 7, Brazilian GP (Rio)
1987: April 12, Brazilian GP (Rio)
1988: April 3, Brazilian GP (Rio)
Interesting. If they do mostly back to back races it would certainly keep weekends interesting rather than the dull no race ones we have now although I wonder what other series would think of this?
Im sure personnel would like it, get the season over quicker and have more continuous time at home rather than fleeting visits and lots of long haul flights.

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Vasconia
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I dont like it. What I want is start watching races earlier not later.

Moreover, they cant reduce the gap between races many times. The three week gap before Barcelona is essential for the teams to prepare which is considered the biggest update of the season. Perhaps they could reduce the gap between Malaysia/China, and Barcelona/Monaco. But I dont know if the teams will agree with this.

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SectorOne
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Tighter gaps? All for it. Honestly couldnt care less about the teams having issues about bringing updates.
Three week gaps is crazy. 2 week gaps is long enough in my opinion.
"If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then brother that person is a piece of sh*t"

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Thunder
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SectorOne wrote:Tighter gaps? All for it. Honestly couldnt care less about the teams having issues about bringing updates.
Three week gaps is crazy. 2 week gaps is long enough in my opinion.
Couldn't agree more. Teams will adapt to the smaller Gaps.
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Jonnycraig
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Joined: 12 Apr 2013, 20:48

Re: 2016 to start later than normal

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Vasconia wrote:I dont like it. What I want is start watching races earlier not later.

Moreover, they cant reduce the gap between races many times. The three week gap before Barcelona is essential for the teams to prepare which is considered the biggest update of the season. Perhaps they could reduce the gap between Malaysia/China, and Barcelona/Monaco. But I dont know if the teams will agree with this.
If the season starts 4/5 weeks later then the 'Barcelona upgrade' will be ready for the start of the season.

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turbof1
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It doesn't make much of a difference for the updates - they are developed back in the factories anyway and can easily be put on a plane.

The biggest issue is the workload for the technical staff that travels along the car from race weekend to race weekend. I already heard Bouillier talking about how they are already on the limit concerning the hours the staff is making, and with any more race weekends they'd have to get a second team of staff to relieve the first one from time to time. I'm assuming with the races being pushed on a smaller timeline, they'd effectively have to go for a second team, increasing costs.

Furthermore, the cars usually get throroughly inspected when they get back to the factory. There might be a safety issue with cars failing more due not being able to inspect for any boiling up issues.

From a sportive side I can support this though.
#AeroFrodo

Richard
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Re: 2016 to start later than normal

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RicME85 wrote:Im sure personnel would like it, get the season over quicker and have more continuous time at home rather than fleeting visits and lots of long haul flights.
I'd expect the personal will hate it. Back to back races means non-stop work. At least with the fortnightly cycle they get a breather in the middle.

ChrisF1
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Joined: 28 Feb 2013, 21:48

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Come on, we all know there is an end game here - what has Bernie got planned?

It's always the same story - Bernie and the FIA come up with something way over the top, they compromise and look like they've backed down, teams feel like they've won, Bernie get's what he wanted originally.

Medals said it all, they pushed for something nobody wanted, and instead said double points for 3 races. Teams said no, Bernie said one race, got the title showdown he originally asked for.

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mikeerfol
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Re: 2016 to start later than normal

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Provisional calendar from Autosport http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118710
April 3 - Australia (Albert Park)
April 10 - China (Shanghai)
April 24 - Bahrain (Sakhir)
May 1 - Russia (Sochi)
May 15 - Spain (Barcelona)
May 29 - Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 12 - Canada (Montreal)
June 26 - Britain (Silverstone)
July 3 - Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 17 - Europe (Baku)
July 31 - Germany (Hockenheim)
August 7 - Hungary (Hungaroring)
August 28 - Belgium (Spa)
September 4 - Italy (Monza)
September 18 - Singapore (Marina Bay)
September 25 - Malaysia (Sepang)
October 9 - Japan (Suzuka)
October 23 - USA (Austin)
October 30 - Mexico (Mexico City)
November 13 - Brazil (Interlagos)
November 27 - Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

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PlatinumZealot
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Re: 2016 to start later than normal

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April is too long for me.

I would not mind it if they squeezed in some testing in that gap, or even an F1 reality show would be nice.

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mikeerfol
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Actually, next year there will be 2 winter tests instead of 3 right?

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bdr529
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PlatinumZealot wrote:April is too long for me.

I would not mind it if they squeezed in some testing in that gap, or even an F1 reality show would be nice.

Formula 1 daddy day care. Starring Massa, Kimi, Sebastian, Pastor and Romain... 8)
It might be a late start, but once it gets going it's every couple of weeks there's a race,
Just look at some of the slow starts to season in the past, they may have start off early but a long wait between races

Image

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SectorOne
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mikeerfol wrote:Provisional calendar from Autosport http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118710
April 3 - Australia (Albert Park)
April 10 - China (Shanghai)
April 24 - Bahrain (Sakhir)
May 1 - Russia (Sochi)
May 15 - Spain (Barcelona)
May 29 - Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 12 - Canada (Montreal)
June 26 - Britain (Silverstone)
July 3 - Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 17 - Europe (Baku)
July 31 - Germany (Hockenheim)
August 7 - Hungary (Hungaroring)
August 28 - Belgium (Spa)
September 4 - Italy (Monza)
September 18 - Singapore (Marina Bay)
September 25 - Malaysia (Sepang)
October 9 - Japan (Suzuka)
October 23 - USA (Austin)
October 30 - Mexico (Mexico City)
November 13 - Brazil (Interlagos)
November 27 - Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
Interesting dates for Russia and Malaysia.
"If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then brother that person is a piece of sh*t"

Moose
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Joined: 03 Oct 2014, 19:41

Re: 2016 to start later than normal

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Sweet, I'd much rather see races close together than races starting early.

therealjustin
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Joined: 12 Jul 2010, 04:02

Re: 2016 to start later than normal

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Starting a little later might be a good thing because these three week breaks seem to drag on forever! I can imagine that it might kill a driver's momentum and focus a bit too.

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