The FIA World Council has issued a provisional F1 calendar for 2018 with the 21 races featuring a triple-header in mid-season. The dates are as follows: Melbourne, March 25; Shanghai, April 8; Bahrain, April 15; Baku, April 29; Spain, May 13: Monaco, May 27; Canada, June 10; France, June 24; Austria, July 1; Britain, July 8; Germany, July 22; Hungary, July 29; Belgium, August 26; Italy, September 2; Singapore, September 16; Russia, September 30; Japan, October 7; United States, October 21; Mexico, October 28; Brazil, November 11; Abu Dhabi, November 25.
The Singapore and Baju dates are provisional.
The calendar is rather less than satisfactory in some respects, given that Australia remains a stand-alone fly-away, as are Baku, Canada, Singapore, and Brazil. It was hoped that the new owners would find a better way to link the flyaways to make them less labour-intensive. To some extent they are still tied to the old agreements with the Australian GP unable to move to an earlier date because there is an agreement for it to be the first race and that it must be held on either March 18 or March 25. The switch of Baku to the spring was needed because there were six races vying for a place in July. Monaco and Canada are believed to have contracted dates and the FIA wants the Le Mans 24 Hours weekend to be without an F1 race, and with the required summer date being contracted with the teams this cannot change. It is doubtful whether having racing in August is a good idea as most of the northern hemisphere is on holiday in that period.
The July triple-header is going to be tough for the F1 teams with the Austria-Britain leg being very expensive because of the distance involved and the need for additional logistics. The France-Austria leg is 1100 km, but that is without the need to take ferries. It might have been wiser to have Austria followed by France, followed by Britain, but some of the decision-making is inevitably impacted on how much money the promoters are willing to pay and whether they have set dates in their contracts.
joeblogsf1 
Surely Austria, France, Britain makes more sense in terms of logistics? Or Austria, Germany, Hungary?
Joe surely if the was going to be a triple header surely it should have been Austria, Germany and Hungary or Germany , France and Belgium rather than including Silverstone in the triple header.?:Would that not have been a more common sense thing to do Joe ? Really doesn’t seem greatly sensible including Silverstone on a triple header with two mainland European countries.
Good to see the historic German and French races return. Would like to see an African race though to make it a true world championship.
Thanks for posting this Joe. Any word on pre-season testing dates/location
yet please?
No
You can’t have any pre-season testing later than twelve days before the first race, so you can’t fix any testing date before race schedule is officially approved.
Therefore, as they don’t test on Sundays, the second test would have to end by March 10, and the first would have to begin already in February.
Wonder if they would try Portugal and if there would be proposal to do some Middle East testing (remembering that majority is required to agree for this)
Does anyone know here the breakdown in percentage of the time the drivers spend on simulators and/or at the plants, marketing activities and working out /fitness for the races? 21 races times 5 days into the weekend is 100 days (roundup) That’s 30% of the year only on races alone. Not much time left to have a life or just work on everything else they have to.
I’d love to be that busy and to boot not have time to spend all that money.
“Not much time left to have a life or just work on everything else they have to.”
No, but Ego drives them on and it’s what they want to do, no one’s forcing them to do it. Ditto everyone involved in the process.
It is a lifestyle choice, as it was mine
You must have been involved in management because that is the excuse management gives in any job with a shitty work-life balance.
You are living in France, Joe. Don’t you think it is far much easy to drive to Signes at the end of June instead than through the hurry of July/August holidays ? The French Riviera is awfully crowdy at that time… Having the French GP at that date (June 24) makes a lot of sens for many tourism matters. It may appears as good politics in that terms. Weren’t you cheering how Christian Estrosi managed the cause of the French GP ?
Lord March is going to have some juggling to do to find an F1 or Le Mans-free weekend in June/July to squeeze Festival of Speed in.
…and speaking of FoS, this years’ event will honour Bernie Ecclestone. No news yet as to whether the sculpture in front of Goodwood House will be life-size!
It will be larger than life size….I’ve read it will be up to 5′ tall!
Yes, as a Goodwood aficionado since the beginning, I was thinking the same thing.
The other problem is the amount of weekend time expected to be taken up by F1 (on television) in those two months just isn’t tenable for most viewers. The days of watching every race and qualifying session avidly are coming to an end and GPs are going to have to be selected; once races are dropped and GP weekends cease to be sacrosanct, the likelihood is increasing numbers of other events (sporting, domestic, in-laws, other hobbies, etc) will begin to have greater priority, resulting in fewer viewers for non-headline GPs and even less attraction towards coughing up to breach the paywall, leading to fewer subscribers, potentially reduced income and perhaps lessened viability for some circuits (which may or may not be a bad thing).
I meant also to add that, as monetising the hardcore seems to be a central part of Liberty’s business plan, the only way that is going to work on any worthwhile scale is to ensure that continuity can be maintained. It is, I think, human nature to drift away from things when, for whatever reason, one cannot follow the whole story.
I really hope they do not honour that horrible greedy little man- the good he did is massively outweighed by the bad in the latter part.
Is there a reason why Singapore is provisional? I can’t see it dropping, so who is after a better deal?
China also seems to be provisional. Any chance that will go? 21 still seems too many races.
Was it not Singapore that wanted to stop the race due to the annual disruption to business in the city? The business fraternity were seemingly overruled by the tourism fraternity!
I still look for Imola on the provisional calendar but once again disappointed 😔
And you will be forever
I’m inclined to agree, but did see an article entitle “Whiting gives Imola F1 circuit approval” and “Italy’s authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that following an inspection by F1 race director Charlie Whiting, Imola has been given the necessary FIA circuit approval to host grands prix in future.”
Then again, it is “La Gazzetta dello Sport”… 😉
Paul, Whiting’s “approval” of Imola is merely the latest 3-yearly renewal of its Grade 1 Licence, i.e. confirming that it’s still fit for purpose for F1 testing and racing, not in itself a signal whether it’s actually ever getting a date for either.
There’s over a dozen other circuits still getting their Grade 1 status renewed every three years despite either not having had a recent F1 date or without ever having had one.
Read “elsewhere”. “Charlie has given FIA approval for Imola to be used in future.”
It does not have the money
This is easier on the eye:
Melbourne, March 25;
Shanghai, April 8;
Bahrain, April 15;
Baku, April 29;
Spain, May 13:
Monaco, May 27;
Canada, June 10;
France, June 24;
Austria, July 1;
Britain, July 8;
Germany, July 22;
Hungary, July 29;
Belgium, August 26;
Italy, September 2;
Singapore, September 16;
Russia, September 30;
Japan, October 7;
United States, October 21;
Mexico, October 28;
Brazil, November 11;
Abu Dhabi, November 25.
The problem with that one is that you are travelling all around the world, back to home and then out again. Make Melbourne and Shanghai back to back and Bahrain with Baku and Spain with Monaco. Switch Austria and France weekends and move Canada into a triple with US and Mexico.
One needs also to have a life
No one forces you to cover F1, Joe.
Isn’t that what you say when drivers or teams complain about the schedule?
Very true. But having a life is also important
A triple header !!
From the motorhome/hospitality side please read
triple attrition
Bernie knew it and didn t do it
Not only three back to backs they are geographically out of order
Still with private planes and red carpet it will be ok
I’m waiting for someone to say “Bring back Bernie!”. Maybe I won’t hear that yet though 🙂
You won’t ever hear it
As a comparison some of the back to back races for NASCAR make the France, Austria and Great Britain triple header look like a stroll down to the local shops.
The crews are smaller
Which reminds me why does F1 persist with using the largest number of pit crew for tyre changes compared to any other series? F1 should be about efficiency and technology – not throwing as many blokes as you can to change tyres.
And why do the F1 crews need to be so big ? The hospitality and paddock seems nuts to me from you see on TV. I don’t see the US Sponsors at NHRA being too upset about running out of transporters, old school style.
Then again I bet the costs and sponsorship rate cards don’t look like F1 either.
To me this is where F1 is going wrong, the high spend profile of the teams pushes the costs, pushes the sponsorship costs pushes the “expectation” for exclusive VIP style hospitality and pandering to elite.
Limit paddock space, and height, limit staff and sponsors make the entire “back office” smaller.
I feel for the team members, support crews, media and everyone else who work hard and travel in discomfort – this is a crazy calendar. Glad I’m longer part of this travelling circus!
It feels like this has been published earlier than usual – A sign of a bit more organisation from the promoter?
Thanks
Rob
What’s the provisional bit about it, just the two races Baju and Singapore?
I managed to a get hotel reservation for the Hockenheim race in a village close by, remembering a blog post from last year.
However, the hotel I stayed in last year, in Mannheim, was already sold out in the evening.
Don’t know whether it is a clash with another event (trade fair), or a combined Verstappen/Vettel in a succesful red car effect, who knows?
Well, I will just wait what type of tickets the promotors come up with, last year’s weekend ticket was an amazing value for money affair.
“It was hoped that the new owners would find a better way to link the flyaways to make them less labour-intensive”
From experience, derigging and packing 28 tonnes of equipment at the end of a race, boarding an aircraft the following day then unloading and setting up 28 tonnes of equipment the next day is fairly labour intensive. Packing up, flying home, resting then back out affords a proper rest period with friends and family. There is air time and jet lag associated to that I grant you, but back to back flyaways are tough on team members. Maybe I’m missing a point when suggesting that gapped flyaways don’t suit everybody in the Paddock, but to hard pressed mechanics and garage support, the ability to pack up and go home is much appreciated
at some point, was i LM, i’d be adding one in Baltic Sea region – maybe randomly, say NOR, SWE, FIN, RUS, EST, LAT, LIT, POL, GER, not all have f1 grade tracks right now, but each would draw 100s of thousands of fans from the region. but yes, each would need a decent financial support. sweet dreams
p.s. sorry, missed DEN
I know the reason behind the Triple Header (World Cup Final on 15th June) and understand that Hungary is usually last race before Summer Break, but the mid-season should be like this:
24/06/18 – Austria
01/07/18 – Germany
08/07/18 – Hungary
22/07/18 – France
29/07/18 – Britain
On the bright side, Germany and France return to the schedule, which is more important than the position. 2019 will be different again, with the likely loss of Germany and a mooted race in New Jersey (could run back-to-back with Canada if the season starts a week earlier).
They should hold more races during the summer and do away with the Euro Centric idea of taking the bulk of August off.
So if someone said we’ll take away your holiday you’d be happy?