Google+ Jack Leslie F1: 21-race calendar announced for 2015, double points dropped

3 December 2014

21-race calendar announced for 2015, double points dropped

The official F1 2015 calendar and several regulation changes have been announced by the FIA, following the recent World Motor Sport Council meeting in Doha, Qatar.
© Octane Photographic
After a year off the schedule, the Korean Grand Prix will return in 2015 with an earlier slot, going back-to-back with the first European round in Spain to create a record 21-race calendar.

Apart from the addition of Korea, the only other change in comparison to the initial schedule released in September is the Chinese Grand Prix being placed before the Bahrain Grand Prix.

F1 2015 Calendar:

1. Australian Grand Prix – 15th March
2. Malaysian Grand Prix – 29th March
3. Chinese Grand Prix – 12th April
4. Bahrain Grand Prix – 19th April
5. Korean Grand Prix – 3rd May (TBC)
6. Spanish Grand Prix – 10th May
7. Monaco Grand Prix – 24th May
8. Canadian Grand Prix – 7th June
9. Austrian Grand Prix – 21st June
10. British Grand Prix – 5th July
11. German Grand Prix – 19th July
12. Hungarian Grand Prix – 26th July
13. Belgian Grand Prix – 23rd August
14. Italian Grand Prix – 6th September
15. Singapore Grand Prix – 20th September
16. Japanese Grand Prix – 27th September
17. Russian Grand Prix – 11th October
18. United States Grand Prix – 25th October
19. Mexican Grand Prix – 1st November
20. Brazilian Grand Prix – 15th November
21. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – 29th November


Meanwhile several regulation changes have been confirmed by the FIA for next season. The controversial double points rule introduced this year has fortunately been officially dropped, as has the proposed standing restarts idea.

The virtual safety car successfully trialled towards the end of the 2014 season has been approved. "It will normally be used when double waved yellow flags are needed on any section of track and competitors or officials may be in danger, but the circumstances are not such as to warrant use of the safety car itself," read the FIA's statement.

When a race is suspended, drivers will now line up in the pit lane, rather than the starting grid, and if team personnel or equipment remain on the grid after the 15-second signal has been shown, the driver will have to start from the pit lane.

The replacement of a complete power-unit will not result in a grid drop next year. Instead, penalties will be applied - as specified in the 2014 regulations - for the individual components. If the driver qualifies in a position where the full penalty cannot be taken, they will be given one of four time penalties depending on the number of places. 

In addition to the existing five-second penalty, a 10-second penalty will be introduced for 2015. Once the last lapped car has passed the leader, the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap, rather than waiting for them to reach the back of the pack. 

The following changes will be introduced to the issuing of super licenses from 2016 onwards:

1- Safety criteria 

- There is a valid driving licence requirement. 
- There is a minimum age requirement (18yo). 
 - There is a verification of knowledge of the F1 Sporting Regulations/ISC rules. 

2- Experience criteria 

- There is the 300km in F1 TCC or TPC_ as a minimum requirement. 
- There is a 2 years minimum running in minor Formulas. 

3- Performance criteria 

- There is a point system requirement, based on the driver results in previous Formulas.

The findings of the FIA's Accident Panel, who looked into Jules Bianchi's Japanese Grand Prix crash, have also been released, concluding that the Frenchman "did not slow sufficiently" for the double-waved yellow flags and that he "over-controlled the oversteering car", meaning he left the track earlier than Adrian Sutil, who hit the wall one lap earlier. The full summary can be found here.

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