FIA formally approves 21-race F1 schedule for 2019

24 comments on “FIA formally approves 21-race F1 schedule for 2019”

1. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   12th October 2018, 19:35

   I still don’t understand the logic behind the scheduling of the Singapore-Russia-Japan segment. If they want to keep the Japanese GP ahead of the 2nd Monday of October at all costs then so be it, but why not then schedule the Singapore GP to take place on the weekend before (October 4-6), and thus, the Russian GP on the 22nd of September slot instead? What’s wrong with this scheduling? Yes, the teams and drivers live according to the European time zones in Singapore, which means that going straight to Japan from there in a span of only few days would cause some jet-lag despite there only been a difference of an hour between these two countries, but travelling straight from Singapore to Japan in a span of a few days is still easier logistically than travelling from Singapore to Sochi within the same number of days. The scheduling of the US and the Mexican GPs is (and has so far always been) based on the travelling logistics, so what’s wrong with using the same approach with the preceding part of the late-season flyaway phase?
   1. 

      Harvey Lorenzo (@boroboy18)
      12th October 2018, 23:50

      Or Japan & Russia could be swapped – the former on 29 September, latter 13 October – similar to 2015 (27 Sep, 11 Oct respectively).

      Ideally USA should go before Mexico too (as in 2015-2018).

      The calendar could’ve been done a bit better:
      Australia, 24/03
      Bahrain, 07/04
      China, 14/04
      Azerbaijan, 28/04
      Spain, 12/05
      Monaco, 26/05
      Canada, 09/06
      Austria, 23/06
      Britain, 07/07
      France, 14/07
      Hungary, 28/07
      Germany, 04/08
      Belgium, 01/09
      Italy, 08/09
      Singapore, 22/09
      Japan, 29/09
      Russia, 13/10
      USA, 27/10
      Mexico, 03/11
      Brazil, 17/11
      Abu Dhabi, 01/12
      1. 

         Jere (@jerejj)
         13th October 2018, 7:55

         @boroboy18 An even better alternative would be this:
         Australia, 24/03
         Bahrain, 07/04
         China, 21/04
         Azerbaijan, 28/04
         Spain, 12/05
         Monaco, 26/05
         Canada, 09/06
         France, 23/06
         Austria, 30/06
         Britain, 14/07
         Germany, 28/07
         Hungary, 04/08
         Belgium, 01/09
         Italy, 08/09
         Russia, 22/09
         Singapore, 6/10
         Japan, 13/10
         USA, 27/10
         Mexico, 03/11
         Brazil, 17/11
         Abu Dhabi, 01/12
         1. 

            Harvey Lorenzo (@boroboy18)
            18th October 2018, 7:37

            @jerejj why should China be twinned with Baku than Bahrain?
            1. 

               Jere (@jerejj)
               18th October 2018, 16:08

               @boroboy18 Because jet-lag wise it’s easier to travel straight to Baku from Shanghai than from Bahrain to Shanghai (east-to-west travelling is easier than west-east travelling jet lag-wise). That should’ve been applied to this season’s schedule already. The Chinese GP was initially scheduled to take place on the 8th of April with the Bahrain GP seven days later, which would’ve been perfectly fine jet-lag wise, but then their dates got swapped as China didn’t want their race to take place during the Tomb-Sweeping Day festival (national public holiday). While they were at it, they should’ve just pushed it back to the weekend of 20-22 so that it would’ve taken place seven days before the Azerbaijan GP rather than seven days after the Bahrain GP. Travelling logistics-wise this arrangement would’ve been better as well. While we’re at it, I’m going to ask something from you in return concerning your scheduling as well: Why should the French GP be twinned with the British GP instead of the Austrian GP (It’s easier logistically for it to form a double-header with Austria than it would be with Britain) and take place in mid-July instead of late-June? Also, why should the dates of the German and the Hungarian GPs be swapped? The Hungaroring is more fitting to be the last venue before the traditional summer-break than Hockenheim is (yes, they took place in this order in 2016, but other than that, they’ve always taken place the other way round, so that’s more traditional, and thus, fitting). Any particular reason(s) for these?
2. 

   Jared H (@thejaredhuang)
   12th October 2018, 23:08

   Why is the USGP subject to approval? No contract?
   1. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      13th October 2018, 7:56

      @thejaredhuang I’m not sure. This came to me as a surprise as well.
   2. 

      Mbski
      15th October 2018, 16:56

      The organizers of the USGP were not happy to have the dates swapped with the mexican grand prix.

      https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/motorsports/2018/08/31/nascar-formula-1-texas-conflict-2019-schedule/1158037002/
3. 

   Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
   13th October 2018, 6:38

   Am I the only one that would like to see Brazil host the finale instead of Abu Dhabi?
   1. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      13th October 2018, 7:58

      @panagiotism-papatheodorou I doubt it although I’m not one of those people. I’m happy with Abu Dhabi holding the status of the season finale.
      1. 

         Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
         13th October 2018, 8:53

         Just as a matter of interest, why do you like Abu Dhabi instead of Brazil? I do feel like we have been denied some fantastic championship finales. IMO its just a dull chicane filled track.
         1. 

            Jere (@jerejj)
            13th October 2018, 16:40

            @felipemassadobrasil I just like the venue/place as a whole more, in general, than Interlagos. Furthermore, the quality of racing at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, except for last season and the season before whenever the SC wasn’t on track, hasn’t really been better than at the Yas Marina Circuit in the recent past. If YMC wouldn’t be the venue of the season finale, then I hope it’d alternatively be either something like Suzuka (unlike to happen, though, due to it being a bit too cool/cold for F1 in late-November), COTA, or BIC (Bahrain) rather than Interlagos.
   2. 

      anon
      13th October 2018, 16:36

      @panagiotism-papatheodorou, any particular reason why though? After all, traditionally the Brazilian GP was one of the opening three races, if not the opening race of the season – it is a fairly recent change (2004) to have that race at the end of the season instead.

      Up until 2000, the Australian GP was usually the closing race of the season, whilst the Japanese GP has also traditionally been towards the end of the season (sometimes, such as in 2003, it was the closing race of the season, but more often it was the Japanese GP followed by the Australian GP).
      1. 

         Jere (@jerejj)
         13th October 2018, 16:42

         @anon ”Up until 2000” – Wrong, up until 1995 to be precise. Melbourne has been the home of the Australian GP since 1996, not since 2000/01.
      2. 

         Jere (@jerejj)
         13th October 2018, 16:45

         @anon Furthermore, something that has happened 14 years ago isn’t really a ”fairly recent change”
4. 

   Aleš Norský (@gpfacts)
   13th October 2018, 16:23

   We really should not go beyond 18…
   1. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      13th October 2018, 16:43

      @gpfacts Anything from 19 to 21 (as has been the case during this decade so far) is fine.
      1. 

         Aleš Norský (@gpfacts)
         13th October 2018, 19:13

         @jerejj I just find myself almost constantly being flooded with races and results that are largely invariable, and there is just more and more of it. I really don’t mind missing a race on TV here or there anymore…and that is something I would not have said just five years ago.
5. 

   Ju88sy (@)
   14th October 2018, 22:10

   Works for me as Australia trip was booked based on the provisional calendar! Silverstone already booked and in the calendar, really not fussed about the rest of the detail, the teams can work the logistics. Just need to decide which post-summer race we will go to…feeling a return to Spa..
   1. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      18th October 2018, 15:49

      @ju88sy It’s always a bit risky to book stuff such as flights and accommodations for an event based on provisional schedule, i.e., when the dates aren’t set in stone yet. Some people learned it the hard way three years ago concerning the 2016 Australian GP weekend, which was initially scheduled to take place in early-April but was later moved to the 20th of March as a part of a little re-shuffle of the schedule by the time it got finalized.
      1. 

         Ju88sy (@)
         19th October 2018, 7:18

         @jerejj That’s true and the reason we had flexibility in our itinerary, and used an agency. We have friends in Melbourne so race weekend accommodation was never a factor.
6. 

   Harvey Lorenzo (@boroboy18)
   30th November 2018, 2:40

   @jerejj regarding your post from 18 October 2018. I know the actual calendar is finalized. Now, regarding my calendar:

   1. Bahrain has never had a 7 April date before. Reason why I want it on that date is because the Thursday of that weekend is 4 April, the date of the first ever Bahrain GP back in 2004. I think Bahrain should be held on the weekend of the first Friday in April.

   2. France should be twinned with Britain as the former should coincide with that country’s national holiday.

   3. I won’t mind Germany before Hungary as long as the earliest dates for the 2 races to fall on are 17 & 24 July respectively, and then the latest dates are 23 & 30 July respectively. Hungary should always get the weekend before the last Monday in July.
   1. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      30th November 2018, 9:19

      @boroboy18
      1. – Yes, Bahrain mightn’t have had the 7th of April as the precise race day before, but April 6th (in 2014), yes, which is close enough, and furthermore, it isn’t that precise anyway with specific days of a month.
      2. – I don’t understand your logic here. Why should country x’s race coincide with a holiday of some other country? That’s entirely irrelevant.
      3. – The Hungarian GP hasn’t always specifically been held ahead of the last Monday in July, so again, an irrelevant side-aspect. There’s nothing special with the last Monday in July to justify that amount of preciseness.

      In the end, the logistics-aspect is far more important than certain specific days to consider when forming a race calendar.
      1. 

         Jere (@jerejj)
         30th November 2018, 9:29

         @boroboy18 Re 1. – And April 8th this past season, of course, with the 7th being the qualifying day.

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