Abir Evelyn CamdenThe Australian Grand Prix, historically the F1 season’s start, faces a postponed return to its opening slot until 2025, navigating logistical challenges and calendar reshuffles.
The upcoming Formula 1 Grand Prix on the 2024 calendar, the season’s third race, will be in Melbourne, Australia.
This race, a favorite among drivers and fans, will mark its return as the season opener in 2025 for the first time since 2020… not without its challenges!
Australia was once the traditional starting point for the F1 championship, but since the race’s cancellation in 2020, it has lost this coveted spot.
Instead, Bahrain has hosted both the pre-season testing and the opening round, in a logical arrangement that mitigates the costs associated with travel to the Gulf.
This year, Melbourne will thus be the season’s third round, as was the case last year. However, this is not a fixed position on the calendar, and when a new contract was signed with FOM (Formula One Management) to extend the race until 2035, it included several instances where Albert Park would be the season opener.
One such occasion was supposed to occur this year, in 2024. But a change of plan resulted in Bahrain hosting the opener again, allowing for two consecutive Saturday Grand Prix due to Ramadan. In exchange, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation secured a two-year extension, ensuring the event until 2037.
Melbourne F1 GP 2025 : Strategic Calendar Shift
If next year’s championship starts in Australia, pre-season testing will likely remain in the Middle East. Next year, Ramadan runs from February 27 to March 29.
Thus, for Bahrain to host the opening round, it would need to take place on February 22, which would also move pre-season testing a week earlier. Far too early for the teams.
Instead, finishing testing on February 26 before heading to Australia is a far more feasible proposition. If testing were to occur from February 24 to 26, the earliest Australia could realistically hold its date would be March 9, though March 16 is also a possible choice.
There is a certain degree of logic to this date since another event in Oceania could occur in the following weeks – most likely in China – before F1 returns to the Middle East in Bahrain on April 5 and then Saudi Arabia on April 12, after Ramadan.
The complication arises for the Japanese Grand Prix, which follows two weeks after the Australian GP this year. Suzuka could return to its traditional October date or could be part of an early-season doubleheader with China.
Melbourne F1 GP 2025. Melbourne F1 GP 2025
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