New weekend schedule includes later race starts for 2018

Formula 1, together with the FIA, has revealed the starting times for the 21 Grands Prix of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

There are two main changes to 2017’s structure. The first is that on Sunday the race will start at ten minutes past the hour. Some broadcasters usually go on air precisely on the hour, hence missing the tension and emotion that characterize the minutes before the start of each Grand Prix. Thanks to this change, television viewers will be brought closer to the teams and the drivers and fully enjoy the spectacle offered just before the red lights go out.

The second change is to the European and Brazilian race weekends. Research has indicated that a wider TV audience is reachable later in the afternoons, especially in the summer months. Consequently, it has been decided to move the schedule of every session back by one hour across the whole weekend for each of the above-mentioned Grands Prix.

Other minor adjustments have been made in order to avoid clashes with other major sports events like the FIFA World Cup, to allow for differing sunset times, and to attract a wider attendance to promoters’ events.

The full schedule is as follows:

Grand Prix	Friday		Saturday		Sunday
	FP1	FP2	FP3	Qualifying	Race	Sunset
Australia	12:00-13:30	16:00-17:30	14:00-15:00	17:00-18:00	16:10	19:24
Bahrain	14:00-15:30	18:00-19:30	15:00-16-00	18:00-19:00	18:10	17:57
China	10:00-11:30	14:00-15:30	11:00-12:00	14:00-15:00	14:10	18:22
Azerbaijan	13:00-14:30	17:00-18:30	14:00-15:00	17:00-18:00	16:10	19:33
Spain	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	21:01
Monaco*	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	21:00
Canada	10:00-11:30	14:00-15:30	11:00-12:00	14:00-15:00	14:10	20:42
France	12:00-13:30	16:00-17:30	13:00-14:00	16:00-17:00	16:10	21:22
Austria	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	20:57
Great Britain	10:00-11:30	14:00-15:30	11:00-12:00	14:00-15:00	14:10	21:24
Germany	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	20:19
Hungary	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	20:22
Belgium	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	20:35
Italy	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	19:59
Singapore	16:30-18:00	20:30-22:00	18:00-19:00	21:00-22:00	20:10	19:03
Russia	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	14:10	18:04
Japan	10:00-11:30	14:00-15:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	14:10	17:30
United States	10:00-11:30	14:00-15:30	13:00-14:00	16:00-17:00	13:10	18:53
Mexico	10:00-11:30	14:00-15:30	10:00-11:00	13:00-14:00	13:10	18:04
Brazil	11:00-12:30	15:00-16:30	12:00-13:00	15:00-16:00	15:10	19:26
Abu Dhabi	13:00-14:30	17:00-18:30	14:00-15:00	17:00-18:00	17:10	17:33

• Free Practice on Thursday

To view complete details of the 2019 Formula 1 schedule, click here.