According to a list nicked from someone's briefcase, the provisional 2010 F1 calendar shows some quite considerable changes from the 2009 season's schedule, with Bahrain slated to open the series and plenty of other races jumbled around.
The list, which was obtained by F1-Live, has the Bahrain GP down to kick-off the season on March 14th, with the traditional season-opener in Melbourne as the second round of the season on March 28th.
It is thought that the FIA are still debating whether to move Bahrain ahead of Australia, which is tied to that late March weekend in order to allow for daylight savings time with it's new evening start time. BMW boss Mario Theissen said earlier this weekend that the FIA had two drafts of the calendar, one with Australia as the first round, and a second with Bahrain ahead of it.
Elsewhere, the Canadian GP at Montreal makes the provisional list, with a June 6th date, putting it in between the Monaco and Valencia races. The European GP in Valencia has moved back to June 27th after complaints about the August date from 2009 due to it clashing with the Spanish holiday season. Though this new date now means Spain will host tow GPs within two months of each other.
The German GP is still scheduled for Hockenheim, despite there being severe doubts over the track being able to host the race next year, while the British GP is down to be run at Donington Park, despite the continued hiccups with the redevelopment of the track.
The summer break on the provisional calendar is shorter, with a three week gap set for August, between the Hungarian and Belgian events.
China moves back down the calendar to September 19th in the new provisional list, after moving forwards to April this year, while the last four events remain the same, with the season provisionally scheduled to conclude in Abu Dhabi on November 7th.
There is, of course, a chance that this is all complete nonsense, and that Bernie secretly has plans for a 32 race calendar featuring events in Cuba, Madagascar and the Moon. We shall wait and see.
| Provisional 2010 F1 Schedule | |
| Date | Event |
| March 14th | Bahrain GP (Sakhir) |
| March 28th | Australian GP (Melbourne) |
| April 4th | Malaysian GP (Sepang) |
| April 25th | Turkish GP (Istanbul) |
| May 9th | Spanish GP (Barcelona) |
| May 23rd | Monaco GP (Monte Carlo) |
| June 6th | Canadian GP (Montreal) |
| June 27th | European GP (Valencia) |
| July 11th | British GP (Donington Park) |
| July 25th | German GP (Hockenheim) |
| August 1st | Hungarian GP (Budapest) |
| August 22nd | Belgian GP (Spa-Francorchamps) |
| September 5th | Italian GP (Monza) |
| September 19th | Chinese GP (Shanghai) |
| September 26th | Singapore GP (Singapore) |
| October 10th | Japanese GP (Suzuka) |
| October 24th | Brazilian GP (interlagos) |
| November 7th | Abu Dhabi GP (Yas Island) |
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