FIA updates 2016 Formula One provisional race calendar

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), Formula One racing's governing body, released a revised provisional schedule for the 2016 season.

Based on the updated race calendar, the 2016 F1 season will kick off in Australia in March and not in April as previously indicated. The 2016 F1 season will still have a total of 21 races.

On the other hand, the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) announced that from 2016, all F1 cars must have a separate exhaust wastegate tailpipe.

Several other changes to the F1 regulations are the following:

(1) Cars must now comply with all cockpit and safety equipment requirements during testing; including the position of the driver’s head, cockpit padding and ease of driver egress.

(2) Sporting Regulations regarding track limits have been clarified and specify that drivers “must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not deliberately leave the track without a justifiable reason.”

(3) The WMSC approved the proposal of the F1 Commission regarding regulations for power unit and gearbox changes. “Such penalties prior to qualifying will be applied based on the time of use.”

(4) Any driver who causes a start to be aborted will no longer be allowed to rejoin the grid for the restart.

(5) The WMSC confirmed a number of clarifications were made to aerodynamic testing restrictions for wind tunnel and CFD usage “specifically focusing on reporting and inspection processes for these development tools.”

Date

Race

March 20

Australia

April 3

Bahrain

April 17

China

May 1

Sochi

May 15

Spain

May 29

Monaco 

June 12

Canada

June 19 

Baku

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

October 23

USA

November 6

Mexico

November 13

Brazil

November 27

Abu Dhabi