New schedule for Malaysia and Australia races

By BMW Sauber F1
February 2 2009

Alterations in Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur: The World Automobile Association, FIA, has confirmed the new start times for the first two rounds of the 2009 Formula One season. To make for better broadcasting times for the European TV audience, the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix will be started at 17:00hrs local time, this year.

This means that the season opener in Melbourne will begin at 07:00hrs CET (06:00hrs BT) and not at 05:30hrs CET as it was the case in recent years. And the start of the second round of the season will take place at 10:00hrs CET (09:00hrs BT). The start time of the Singapore GP, however, remains untouched. Just as it was the case in 2008, the first lap of the spectacular night race will begin at 20:00hrs local time (14:00hrs CET / 13:00hrs BT).