Revised 2016 Formula One schedule

[Dare]

Why don't they make Brazil the final race of the season?Silverstone
is still listed for whatever that means



From Fox Sports

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has revised and ratified the 2016 Formula One schedule, which features a number of changes from the original version released in July.
In total, eight races have new dates, including the Australian, Chinese, Bahrain, British, Azerbaijan, Hungarian, Malaysian and Mexican GP events.
Bernie Ecclestone had been wrestling with the schedule changes over the past three months, after the original calendar released attracted concerns from teams and race promoters.
The opening race in Australia has been moved to March 20, two weeks earlier than when the schedule was first unveiled.
This change creates potential logistical problem for teams, who now have to change their research and development, car build, crash testing, and spares production schedules.
Full 2016 F1 schedule:
March 20 - Melbourne
April 3 - Bahrain
April 17 - Shanghai
May 1 - Sochi
May 15 - Barcelona
May 29 - Monte Carlo
June 12 - Montreal
June 19 - Baku
July 3 - Spielberg
July 10 - Silverstone
July 24 - Budapest
July 31 - Hockenheim
August 28 - Spa-Francorchamps
September 4 - Monza
September 18 - Singapore
October 2 - Sepang
October 9 - Suzuka
October 23 - Austin
November 6 - Mexico City
November 13 - Sao Paolo
November 27 - Abu Dhabi

[Jericoke]

We know that the last race is a money thing.  No point in lamenting it. 

I'm wondering why they go from Montreal to Baku in 5 days.  I'm not super knowledgable of Azerbaijan, but I would give a race in a new place more than 5 days to ship everything across the world.  There's no telling what might go wrong.

[cosworth151]

Does anybody really expect common sense from the F.I.A.?

As for Abu Dhabi, it's just a desperate attempt to drum up some kind of interest in an otherwise boring parade.

[Scott]

I'm wondering why they go from Montreal to Baku in 5 days.  I'm not super knowledgable of Azerbaijan, but I would give a race in a new place more than 5 days to ship everything across the world.  There's no telling what might go wrong.

So true...though I bet teams are sending some lead staff ahead to make sure everything works and the lights turn on, that sort of thing.

[F1fanaticBD]

If Red Bull pulls away from the sports, then Speilberg will be no longer in the calender, and the concern for Baku will only need to change the date, a week later. Ominous sign for me..

[Steve A.]

Now just wait for the final shuffle. No doubt it's not the final,  final calender.

[J.Clark]

If Red Bull pulls up stakes . . .

I don't know if that would mean the end to Austria, or not actually.  Red Bull is a business after all, and the investment in that circuit was huge.  I would think that they would try to keep a race there, whether they are competing or not.

[Jericoke]

If Red Bull pulls up stakes . . .

I don't know if that would mean the end to Austria, or not actually.  Red Bull is a business after all, and the investment in that circuit was huge.  I would think that they would try to keep a race there, whether they are competing or not.

If RBR leaves Bernie holding the bag, I can't imagine that Bernie wouldn't put the screws to the Red Bull Ring.

[Scott]

The investment they have in their 2 F1 teams I would think is far more than that in the A-ring...they probably bought the track for a song after it was dropped from the calendar, and it was only the upgrade costs that hurt (€70m) but I think it was still a lot less than the F1 annual budget.

If RBR walk away from F1 without finding a solid buyer, they will have thrown a ton of money away.  It just doesn't smell right to me.  It would also hurt their image as a sports marketing company to give up in a hissy fit.

[John S]

I still think Christian will get the nod to take on RBR as his Arden F1 team and STR will go to someone else - possibly ART GP. With sponsorship packages for both for a few years, it'll still be cheaper than paying redundancies at both and facing Bernie in court for $300m upwards.

I'm also thinking the schedule also includes cover for the British and Italian GPs to drop off the list. We know both are under threat more than any of the others listed.

 

[cosworth151]

I hadn't thought about this, but it sounds like Haas will get the short end of the stick in this.

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/amended-2016-f1-schedule-hurts-american-haas-f1-team

[Scott]

Typical Bernie and the FIA.  Cry and scream about saving money and then throw a wrench in the works.  I'm sure there are other teams on a strict schedule as well, and this has mucked up their plans too.

[cosworth151]

Something else I didn't notice until I heard John Hindhaugh mention it on Midweek Motorsports. The Baku race is the same day as Le Mans. Doesn't the F.I.A. have a rule that they won't schedule any other race to conflict with Le Mans?

[Jericoke]

Something else I didn't notice until I heard John Hindhaugh mention it on Midweek Motorsports. The Baku race is the same day as Le Mans. Doesn't the F.I.A. have a rule that they won't schedule any other race to conflict with Le Mans?

For years LeMans and Canada were the same weekend.  Brundle would race it, and they would have a Canadian join Murry Walker on the BBC (back then, the races were still co produced locally)

One race we were treated to Greg Moore calling a few laps!

[Irisado]

Off to Azerbaijan we go then.  I'm disappointed by yet another country with next to no motor racing heritage being awarded a Grand Prix.  This is becoming very depressing and is diluting the soul of the sport in my opinion.

As for the change to the dates, the small teams will suffer from this, and the big teams will not.  Same old story really.  As usual, the FIA talks a lot about helping the smaller teams, but in reality does nothing beneficial whatsoever.