FIA approves 2019 calendar and rule changes

Next year’s 21-race Formula 1 calendar, along with a handful of 2019 rule changes, have been signed off by F1’s governing body, the FIA, following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on Friday.

For the third time in history, the world championship will be contested over a record 21 Grands Prix, equalling the total held in 2016 and 2018. Eleven of the 21 will take place in Europe, five in Asia, four in the Americas and one in Australia.

The 2019 season will begin on March 17th in Australia and finish on December 1 in Abu Dhabi. In between those – in China on April 14th – Formula 1 will celebrate the 1000th Grand Prix since its inception in 1950.

Date	Grand Prix	Venue
17th March	Australia	Melbourne
31st March	Bahrain	Sakhir
14th April	China	Shanghai
28th April	Azerbaijan	Baku
12th May	Spain	Barcelona
26th May	Monaco	Monaco
9th June	Canada	Montreal
23rd June	France	Le Castellet
30th June	Austria	Spielberg
14th July	Great Britain	Silverstone
28th July	Germany	Hockenheim
4th August	Hungary	Budapest
1st September	Belgium	Spa
8th September	Italy	Monza
22nd September	Singapore	Singapore
29th September	Russia	Sochi
13th October	Japan	Suzuka
27th October	Mexico	Mexico City
3rd November	USA	Austin*
17th November	Brazil	Sao Paulo
1st December	Abu Dhabi	Yas Marina

* Subject to ASN approval

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

New rules for ’19 and beyond

The WMSC also approved a number of changes to the 2019 F1 Sporting Regulations including:

• Changes to the Safety Car regulations to ensure there is a consistent point at which drivers may overtake when the Safety Car returns to the pits. This will now be the same in all three types of restart.

• The teams will now be responsible for initial scrutineering of their cars. Before the cars go on track for the first time, teams must declare conformity with all safety related matters.

• The official end-of-race signal will now be a chequered light panel, although the chequered flag will still be shown.

For 2020, the team personnel curfew – the amount of time for which all team personnel must be away from the track overnight – will increase from eight to nine hours.

And Formula 1 Strategy Group and Commission proposals concerning the 2019 Technical Regulations were agreed, including:

• Changes to the mirror regulations and also associated rear wing changes (height) for rear view visibility and safety.

• The on-board camera regulations will be modified to improve the TV spectacle.

• Rear endplate lights are to be added for safety.

• Minor modifications to the halo fairing are to be made for safety reasons during a potential driver extraction.

Full details will be made available on FIA.com

Finally, a report on the security procedures to be put in place for the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix was presented to the Council, following meetings between the FIA, Formula 1 and the local authorities.