Categories: 2016 SeasonF1 News, Reports and Race Results

21-race 2016 F1 calendar approved, Austin TBC

The FIA has approved a record calendar of 21 races for 2016, with the United States Grand Prix marked as subject to confirmation.

The final calendar displays few changes to the previous versions which were submitted for approval, with the FIA World Motor Sport Council confirming the final calendar on Wednesday evening. The only date change from the last schedule sees the Mexican Grand Prix move forward a week to become back-to-back with the United States as it was this year.

The race in Austin, however, is marked as subject to approval due to financial difficulties which have hit the Circuit of the Americas. Funding contributions from the State of Texas were cut for the 2015 race - which was also hit by torrential rain which washed out qualifying on Saturday - putting its future in doubt.

There also remains a clash between the new race in Azerbaijan and the Le Mans 24 Hours, preventing any F1 drivers from competing in both. The FIA says the start of the race will be "scheduled to avoid conflict with the conclusion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans".

The full final calendar for 2016 is as follows:

Round	Race	Date
1	Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne)	20 March
2	Bahrain Grand Prix (Sakhir)	3 April
3	Chinese Grand Prix (Shanghai)	17 April
4	Russian Grand Prix (Sochi)	1 May
5	Spanish Grand Prix (Barcelona)	15 May
6	Monaco Grand Prix (Monte Carlo)	29 May
7	Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal)	12 June
8	European Grand Prix (Baku)	19 June
9	Austrian Grand Prix (Spielberg)	3 July
10	British Grand Prix (Silverstone)	10 July
11	Hungarian Grand Prix (Budapest)	24 July
12	German Grand Prix (Hockenheim)	31 July
13	Belgian Grand Prix (Spa-Francorchamps)	28 August
14	Italian Grand Prix (Monza)	4 September
15	Singapore Grand Prix (Marina Bay)	18 September
16	Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang)	2 October
17	Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka)	9 October
18	United States Grand Prix* (Austin)	23 October
19	Mexican Grand Prix (Mexico City)	30 October
20	Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos)	13 November
21	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Yas Marina)	27 November

*Subject to agreement with the promoter and the ASN

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Quotes of the weekend

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - F1i's driver ratings

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.