Paris: The Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will once again host the season finale in the expanded 2016 Formula One season.
The new calendar will feature 21 races, up on the 20, which were staged this season, and will see Azerbaijani capital Baku make its bow on the schedule.
The FIA said the season will start again in Australia on March 20 and end in Abu Dhabi on November 27.
However, the United States Grand Prix in Austin, pencilled in for October, remains a provisional date due to local funding issues while the European Grand Prix in Baku may switch dates to avoid a clash with the Le Mans 24-Hour endurance race running the same June 19 weekend.
Among the technical changes, the sport’s tyre supplier Pirelli will provide three dry-weather compounds instead of two with the aim of spicing up strategy over a racing weekend.
The World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris also approved a mandate for the FIA President, Jean Todt and commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone to make recommendations over governance, engines and cost reduction.
All these issues plagued the sport in the 2015 season which ended on Sunday.
“Mr Todt and Mr Ecclestone expressed their intention to establish conclusions on these matters by January 31, 2016,” said a FIA statement.
If the US Grand Prix is held, the 2016 calendar will have a record 21 races, including a return to Germany at Hockenheim.
The US Grand Prix has been considered a major opportunity for Formula One to surge into a largely untapped market.
The $300 million (Dh1.10 billion) track was built to host the race, which has run in Austin since 2012. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won three times, including this year to clinch this third Formula One championship.
The private investors who built the track, including hedge fund manager Bobby Epstein and billionaire businessman Red McCombs, said they were promised significant help from the state to pay for the commercial rights to hold the race over a 10-year deal. Under an agreement reached with former Gov. Rick Perry and former Comptroller Susan Combs, Texas gave $25 million from the state’s Major Events Trust fund in the first year.
Promoters said they were counting on that money every year. But a 2010 letter from Perry and Combs to Ecclestone notes the state portion could be less than $25 million for the rest of the contract. The letter says that if tax revenues fall short, promoters must make up the difference.
But tickets sales have dipped every year since its debut, and Mexican fans who came to the US race by the thousands the first three years now have a race in their home country.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office told track officials they will get about $19.5 million from the state for the next race because the formula used to award grants were changed to make them more restrictive.
Combined with local tax revenue, race officials will still get about $23 million in public funds. An Abbott spokeswoman said the numbers were not expected to change, but declined to comment on the future of the race.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler has called the race an important event for the Texas capital. But he also has told track officials they can’t look to the city for a “bailout.”
“There is no change in my position, and promoters have not asked us for financial help,” Adler said.
Track officials have said the event has pumped “hundreds of millions” of dollars into the Austin and Texas economies since 2012 and applied for state funding under the same formula as Super Bowls, NCAA basketball tournaments and other events.
— Agencies
2016 Formula One race schedule:
March 20, Melbourne, Australia
April 3, Bahrain, Bahrain
April 17, Shanghai, China
May 1, Sochi, Russia
May 15, Barcelona, Spain
May 29, Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 12, Montreal, Canada
June 19, Baku, Azerbaijan
July 3, Spielberg, Austria
July 10, Silverstone, United Kingdom
July 24, Budapest, Hungary
July 31, Hockenheim, Germany
August 28, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
September 4 Monza, Italy
September 18, Singapore, Singapore
October 2, Sepang, Malaysia
October 9, Suzuka, Japan
October 23, Austin, USA
October 30, Mexico City, Mexico
November 13, Sao Paulo, Brazil
November 27, Abu Dhabi, UAE
