When does the 2015 Formula One season begin?
The F1 2015 season start date has been set for Sunday 15 March, with the first race taking place at the Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne, Australia. Provisionally the new season was scheduled to be contested over 20 race weekends, with the Mexican Grand Prix rejoining the calendar after many years away. However, in early December 2014 the FIA revealed their intentions to add the Korean Grand Prix to the 2015 schedule, making a total of 21 races. The event is currently pencilled in for the 3rd of May.
The final meeting of the season will once again be held at the less than thrilling Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Lewis Hamilton – Photo by emperornie (Sourced via Wikimedia)
F1 2015 Race Dates and Venues (Subject to Change)
March 15th – Australia
March 29th – Malaysia
April 12th – China
April 19th – Bahrain
May 3rd – South Korea (TBC)
May 10th – Spain
May 24th – Monaco
June 7th – Canada
June 21st – Austria
July 5th – Great Britain
July 19th – Germany
July 26th – Hungary
August 23rd – Belgium
September 6th – Italy
September 20th – Singapore
September 27th – Japan
October 11th – Russia
October 25th – USA
November 1st – Mexico
November 15th – Brazil
November 29th – Abu Dhabi
Key driver changes include four-time champion Sebastian Vettel moving to Ferrari after being comfortably beaten by Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo in the 2014 points battle.
Meanwhile, after five years of tremendous racing and two title near misses, Fernando Alonso leaves Ferrari empty handed. Despite arguably still being the best driver in Formula 1, the Maranello team were simply unable to build a car capable of matching the Spaniards talent. Though not officially confirmed at the time of writing this, Alonso looks to be heading back to McLaren for 2015. With the British team now being powered by returning F1 engine manufacturing legends Honda, could the combination of Alonso, McLaren and Honda prove a genuine threat to championship favourites Mercedes?
Having had a pure two horse race in 2014, lets hope McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams can each close the gap on the German manufacturer this coming season. Failing that, fans will likely be in for another Hamilton-Rosberg head-to-head. And with Lewis having now established himself as the teams number 1, 2015 could potentially prove even less competitive than last season. Neutral F1 fans should at least be thankful that Nico has so far been able to put up the fight he has, matching Lewis much closer than many expected.
