The 2019 F1 season is set to start one week early than the current season with the Australian Grand Prix organisers confirming the dates on Monday.
The current season started during the March 23-25 weekend at Albert Park Circuit, which has been hosting the F1 season-opener for several years now. However, the 2019 season will see a change in the date.
As per the announcement from the organisers, the race is set for the March 14-17 weekend – one week earlier than 2018, going back to the 2015 season when it was held during the March 13-15 weekend.
The date though stands provisional at the moment, but should be officially confirmed during the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) meeting later this year as per the Australian GP Corporation CEO, Andrew Westacott.
“To announce the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2019 date more than eight months out from the event is fantastic news and we hope this will encourage overseas and interstate visitors to plan for a lengthy visit to Melbourne and Victoria,” he said.
“We are immensely proud of the four-day spectacle Melbourne puts on and honoured to raise the curtain on one of the world’s most prestigious annual championships. The start of an F1 season, our Aussie superstar Daniel Ricciardo, a Supercars Championship round and so much off-track action – it’s a must-attend event in 2019!”
Australia will be a part of a 21-race long calendar which is yet to be ratified by the FIA and the WMSC. The venues are largely to stay the same in 2019, however, the German Grand Prix could be replaced by the Miami Grand Prix.
Along with the German race at Hockenheim, the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka is also subjected to the pending deal between the hosts and Liberty Media. In case, the race in Miami doesn’t go through, the calendar will then be shortened to 20 races.