F1 "has brought the clocks forward to reduce the risk of a repeat of the crash that almost claimed the life of Jules Bianchi," according to Kevin Eason of the LONDON TIMES.
The FIA "issued its list of start times for the season" on Tuesday morning and it shows "five races will start an hour earlier than in the 2014 season, including Japan where Bianchi suffered devastating head injuries."
The first grand prix, in Melbourne, comes forward to 4pm local time, with Malaysia -- "notorious in recent years for rain delays and failing evening light" -- scheduled to start at 3pm. The floodlit races in Singapore and Abu Dhabi "will take place as normal but Malaysia and Russia have both ruled out any prospect of copying the night formula" (LONDON TIMES, 1/20). REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported FIA set up an accident panel "to investigate the crash and one of its recommendations, in a report published last month, was for earlier starts." The report said, "It is proposed that a regulation or guideline be established such that the start time of an event shall not be less than four hours before either sunset or dusk, except in the case of night races." Malaysian circuit boss Razlan Razali said last week that "he would welcome an earlier start" for the race." Razali: "We said if you want to go back to 3pm, we fully support it." Melbourne organizers "had sounded less keen on the time change," with Australian Grand Prix CEO Andrew Westacott "expressing his reluctance" (REUTERS, 1/20).
