» Australia retains its place as 2019’s F1 season-opener

The Australian Grand Prix has retained its place as the season-opening event for the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship season, after the FIA World Motor Sport Council ratified Liberty Media’s proposed schedule for next year.

The 58-lap race at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit is scheduled to take place between March 15-17, with Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott delighted to have the dates of the event now locked in.

“We look forward to welcoming visitors from all over Australia and around the globe to Melbourne as we continue to enhance the fan experience each year,” he said.

“The Formula One Australian Grand Prix is a benchmark for international events in Australia and has evolved to become a must-do four-day festival, attracting fans from around the world to soak up world-class racing along with premium hospitality, entertainment and cutting-edge technology and innovation.”

Next year’s race will see a change of teams for local hero Daniel Ricciardo, who will compete under the colours of the works Renault team after spending the past five seasons with Red Bull Racing. The Australian, a seven-time Grand Prix winner, is yet to claim a podium finishy on home soil.

The Australian Grand Prix weekend will also see the continuation of the highly successful Melbourne 400 round of the Supercars Championship, with the touring car series having its first run as a points-paying event towards its overall standings last year.

Compared to 2018, the 2019 schedule features a number of tweaks with the most notable being the switch in the running order of the United States and Mexican Grands Prix (the latter will occur before the former next year), as well as the removal of the much-criticised ‘triple header’ sequence in the mid-season where the French, Austrian and British Grands Prix that ran over consecutive weekends.

The number of back-to-back events has also reduced from five pairs of Grands Prix to four next year, which means the season will effectively extend by two weeks and run until December 1 for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which will celebrate its tenth anniversary event.

Tickets for a range of general admission, grandstand and corporate hospitality packages are already on sale for next year’s Australian Grand Prix through its official website.

2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship Season Calendar
Date	Event	Location
17 MAR	Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne
31 MAR	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
14 APR	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai
28 APR	Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku
12 MAY	Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona
26 MAY	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
09 JUN	Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal
23 JUN	French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
30 JUN	Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
14 JUL	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
28 JUL	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim
04 AUG	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Budapest
01 SEP	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot
08 SEP	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Milan
22 SEP	Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
29 SEP	Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi
13 OCT	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka
27 OCT	Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico
03 NOV	United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, United States*
17 NOV	Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo
01 DEC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi