FIA confirm revised 2009 calendar

Following World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris, a revised 2009 F1 calendar was released, taking into account the recent departure of the French Grand Prix from the list, but failing to include the Canadian Grand Prix, which was controversially removed from the schedule in October. With no French Grand Prix, the Chinese Grand Prix has now been moved to the third race of the season, just a week prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix which has been delayed by a week to 26 April.

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in October has also been changed, and will not take place week earlier on 4 October, making it a double-header with the Singapore Grand Prix, which takes place on 27 September as the sport's only night race for a second year running. The Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have both been put back by a fortnight, meaning the season will now conclude on 1 November, rather than the initial date of 15 November, with the inaugural Abu Dhabi GP remaining as the season finale.

Today's announcement retains the four-week summer break between the Hungarian and European Grands Prix, while shortening the gap between the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix to just a fortnight, traditionally a time for major car upgrades as teams return from the first fly-away races.

It was also confirmed that Singapore will be the only night race of 2009, despite rumours suggesting that the Japanese Grand Prix on its return to Suzuka could be run under lights. The Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix will start at 17.00 local time, in an attempt to better accommodate the European timezone, while Singapore will start at 20.00 local time, and Japan at 15.00 local time.

The 2009 Formula One calendar in full:
29 Mar: Australia
05 Apr: Malaysia
19 Apr: China
26 Apr: Bahrain
10 May: Spain
24 May: Monaco
07 Jun: Turkey
21 Jun: Great Britain
12 Jul: Germany (Nurburg)
26 Jul: Hungary
23 Aug: Europe (Valencia)
30 Aug: Belgium
13 Sep: Italy
27 Sep: Singapore
04 Oct: Japan (Suzuka)
18 Oct: Brazil
01 Nov: Abu Dhabi