Bahrain, USA remain on 2012 calendar

Wednesday 7th December 2011

Bahrain, USA remain on 2012 calendar

Bahrain, USA remain on 2012 calendar

Despite lingering doubts regarding safety in Bahrain and finance in Austin, the FIA have made no changes to the 2012 schedule.

The World Motor Sports Council met in New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss amongst other things the schedule for next year, with doubts raised regarding two of the races.

The 2011 Bahrain GP was called off due to civil unrest in the nation and with the situation still unsettled there have been calls to skip the race again next year.

However, the WMSC has decided that the April race will remain on the calendar.

It will be joined by the US GP which returns to the schedule for the first time since 2007.

There were fears that the race would not take place after construction of the new track in Austin was halted after Bernie Ecclestone and the Circuit of the Americas - the organisers of the event - were unable to come to an agreement regarding a race contract.

COTA called Ecclestone's demands "unreasonable" while the F1 supremo said that the body did not have the money to stage the race. Eccelstone initially stated that COTA needed to come up with the money by the end of November but extended the deadline, warning that a deal needed to be reached before the WMSC meeting or the race would be called off.

The presence of the US GP on the calendar indicates that a deal was struck.

2012 Formula One calendar:

Australia: 18 March
Malaysia: 25 March
China: 15 April
Bahrain: 22 April
Spain: 13 May
Monaco: 27 May
Canada: 10 June
Europe: 24 June
Great Britain: 08 July
Germany: 22 July
Hungary: 29 July
Belgium: 02 September
Italy: 09 September
Singapore: 23 September
Japan: 07 October
Korea: 14 October
India: 28 October
Abu Dhabi: 04 November
United States: 18 November
Brazil: 25 November

User comments

    Loading

      Post a comment

      Sunday's Pictures From Canada

      Editor's Picks

      Team-Mate Wars: Montreal

      Team-Mate Wars: Montreal

      Andrew Davies identifies the winners and losers in their respective teams from Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal...

      Winners & Losers: Canada

      Winners & Losers: Canada

      Vettel broke Red Bull's North American duck by scoring a dominant win - despite excursions, delays and diversions...

      Montreal With Sure For Men

      Montreal With Sure For Men

      Lotus sponsor Sure For Men brings you a detailed pictorial timeline of the team's Canadian GP weekend...

      Tyred and Emotional

      Tyred and Emotional

      Andrew Davies sticks his big fat oar into the tyre debate and notes how much the FIA have changed...

      NTFN: Kimi's New Job

      NTFN: Kimi's New Job

      Force India are still wrestling with Sutil's nuts allergy, while Kimi Raikkonen has branched out into PR...