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F1 season to start earlier than planned next year

Published 09/30/2015, 10:44 AM EDT

LONDON (Reuters) – Next year’s season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne will move forward to March 20 after previously being listed for a later than usual start on April 3, organizers said on Wednesday.

“The change of the date is part of a number of changes on a provisional calendar issued by the World Motor Sport Council,” they said in a statement on the official race website (www.grandprix.com.au).

The April 3 date would have been the latest start to a championship since 1988.

The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) was due to publish the latest draft calendar later on Wednesday after ratification by its World Motor Sport Council. The previous draft had a record 21 rounds.

Singapore had objected to having its September race back-to-back with neighboring Malaysia while teams had also expressed concern about the effect on personnel if the August break was shortened from the usual three weeks.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.