For those of you who go insane without Formula One during the winter testing period, you are not going to want to hear this: The 2016 Formula One season will start nearly half a month later. The event has been moved until after daylight savings time and will take place from March 31 to April 3. A draft copy of the 2016 schedule has not been released by the FIA and it is not expected that we will see one any time soon.
According to the Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO, Andrew Westacott, the new schedule will be a positive change for fans: “The new date will see an earlier start time, and fans can expect the same great on-track action and off-track entertainment across the four days.” He also confirmed that Australia will remain the opening round of the 2016 championship: “It’s fantastic that Melbourne will again play host to the opening round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Over the past 20 years Melbourne has become synonymous with the start of a new Formula One season, and we look forward to again welcoming all the teams and drivers to our great city in 2016.”
Pushing the start date of the season back will provide teams with a longer pre-season build and test period. This will be good for the new arrival, the Haas F1 Team, as they will have more time to get the car prepared and prevent themselves from suffering the same fate that McLaren and Honda have suffering in 2015. However, starting the season at a later date also has a negative impact. The 2016 season will reportedly be condensed. This means that teams will have less time in between races, raising the amount of physical demand on the drivers throughout the course of the season. Although it has not been official confirmed or denied, many have speculated that the summer break – a period in the middle of the season during which teams shutdown their operations to save money – could be modified or removed all together. Needless to say, this could have serious implications to the teams that are short on funds.
Moving the starting time of the race will benefit the fans in Australia, however, the European television viewers may not be so pleased. Moving the time any time earlier in the day will push the live broadcast earlier into the morning hours for fans in the United Kingdom. The schedule is constantly being manipulated to please the European viewers, as this is the location of the most Formula One fans. However, this seems to be a step in the wrong direction.
