F1 on Wednesday released its provisional calendar for the '17 season, with Hockenheim surprisingly named as host venue of the German Grand Prix. The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the championship's provisional schedule at a meeting in Paris. The 21-race season will begin at Melbourne's Albert Park on March 26 and concludes exactly nine months later at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 26. There are no notable changes to the calendar, except that Hockenheim appears on the schedule with a race date set for July 30. German track organizers, however, made clear that they would only be able to host the race in '17 if F1 would assume all financial risks of the endeavor. "We are not thinking about it," Hockenheimring Managing Dir Georg Seiler said about the possibility of hosting the German GP in '17. "We have a contract for 2016 and 2018, in between it's not our turn." Hockenheim and fellow German racetrack Nürburgring have been alternating as host venues of the German GP on an annual basis since '08. The Nürburgring was unable to fulfill its commitment in '15 due to its uncertain financial situation following its bankruptcy. After the cancellation of the German Grand Prix in '15, the race returned to the series’ schedule this season. Hockenheim has an existing contract with the series until '18 and is expected to fulfill its obligation. With F1 unlikely to forgo millions in hosting fees, the chances of a race on German soil in '17 are rather slim. The three North American races in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will keep their usual dates. Austin and Mexico City are again going back-to-back on Oct. 22 and Nov. 5. The two-week break between the U.S. and Mexican races is a slight change to this year's schedule, when the races take place on consecutive Sundays at the end of October.
UP NORTH: Montreal will host its grand prix on June 11, though the event at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is subject to confirmation. Local race promoter Octane Racing Group President & CEO Francois Dumontier: "The presence of the asterisk is due to the ongoing negotiations between Formula 1 and other local stakeholders, negotiations from which we are kept informed. We are entirely confident that Mayor Denis Coderre as well as his administration will be able to come to an agreement as quickly as possible ...
For now, our tickets sales will remain on hold. As soon as we will be able to, we will advise fans as well as the media that tickets are available and as usual we will prioritize our 2016 clients when it comes to seat selection." Local promoters reached a deal with F1 in '14 to keep the race in Montreal until '24. As part of the deal, local authorities promised to make upgrades to the facility by '17.
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| Source: FIA |
ELECTRIC CIRCUIT: Formula E, meanwhile, confirmed its schedule for '16-17, with New York City and Montreal trading places. The recently confirmed NYC event, set to take place in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood, will not host the season finale. This distinction will now go to Montreal, which will host a double-header on July 29 and 30. The inaugural NYC ePrix will take place two weeks prior on July 15 and 16. Formula E was unable to fill the two race dates that remained open on the provisional calendar, therefore dropping the number of races from 14 to 12. The new season will kick off on Oct. 9 in Hong Kong before the electric racing series heads to Marrakesh, Morocco, on Nov. 12. Hong Kong and Marrakesh are two of five new cities on the '16-17 calendar. After a more than three-month break following the race in North Africa, Formula E will power up again in Buenos Aires on Feb. 18. The long breaks, especially between the second and third race, remain an issue for the young series. “I don’t like it, I hate it,” Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag told
SBD Global at the inaugural Mexico City ePrix. “We will try to make it more compact and try to go to a calendar from the end of November or December until July, [with] the races a maximum of two or three weeks apart.” Formula E also revealed that McLaren Applied Technologies was chosen as the exclusive battery supplier of the series by the WMSC. McLaren and Formula E signed a two-year agreement for the '18-19 and '19-20 seasons. The British company will replace Williams Advanced Engineering as the sole battery supplier.
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| Source: FIA |
