For the first time, Formula 1 will have more than 20 races in a season
And they’re off! It kicked off on the 20th March, what will be the greatest season in Formula 1 World Championship history. After the first race, held at the Albert Park circuit in Australia, we still have another 20 GPs to look forward to. Amongst them, most of which are established venues, there is a new addition: The Baku GP, in Azerbeijan, will be the eigth stage of the championship, and held on a street circuit designed by experienced architect Herman Tilke – this is the 20th circuit).
The new track, however, is not the only novelty this season. There will also be a new North American team, Haas, with its cursiously named car (VF01-2016, V and F mean Very First!) which carries an engine and transmission from Italian partner, Ferrari. During their debut year in top tier world motorsports Haas will be driven by Swiss Romain Grosjean and the Mexican Esteban Gutierrez – who was a great success on home soil when, in 2015, the Mexico Grand Prix returned to the calendar after an absence of 23 years.
One other much awaited event is the introduction of a new ultrasoft tyre, Pirelli P Zero. Until last year Formula 1 only had four compounds – supersoft, soft, medium and hard. Now, this ultrasoft – which is the dream of any driver as it improves overall handling of the car – will be used mainly in qualifying and strategic ploys, given that its peak perfomance only lasts for a few laps.
The tenth stage of the championship will be the British Grand Prix on July 10th. The race, once again, will be disputed at the legendary Silverstone circuit, which in the ‘90s was christened “Silvastone” after the Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna da Silva, who enjoyed much success at the British track, before his death, in 1994. The Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate of the season, will be held at Interlagos on November 13th.
2016 Schedule: prepare to watch the F1 GPs
20th March – Australia (already disputed)
3rd April – Bahrain
17th April – China
1st May – Russia
15th May – Spain
29th May – Monaco
12th June – Canada
19th June – Baku, Azerbaijan
3rd June – Austria
10th July – England
24th July – Hungary
31st July – Germany
28th August – Belgium
4th September – Italy
18th September – Singapore
2nd October – Malaysia
9th October – Japan
23rd October – USA
6th November – Mexico
13th November – Brazil
27th November – Abu Dhabi
