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Australia was once the traditional start to the F1 championship, but since the cancellation of the 2020 race, it has lost that coveted spot.
Instead, Bahrain has been home to both pre-season testing and the opening round in a logical arrangement that amortises costs associated with travelling to the Gulf.
This year, Melbourne will be Round 3 of the season, as it was last year.
But that is not a fixed position on the calendar, and when a new contract was signed with Formula One Management to extend the race to 2035, that included several instances where Albert Park would be the opener.
One of those occasions was meant to be 2024.
A change of plans saw that again fall to Bahrain, while the Australian Grand Prix Corporation landed a two-year extension that secured the event through to 2037.
However, next year’s championship will start in Australia.
Pre-season testing will likely remain in the Middle East but the circus will head to Melbourne rather than staying on for the opening round.
Next year, Ramadan is set to run from February 27 through to March 29.
As such, for Bahrain to host the opening round, it would have to take place on February 22, which also pushes pre-season testing a week earlier.
Given the work teams need to design, build, and transport their cars, it’s not an especially viable option.
Instead, having testing conclude on February 26 before teams head to Australia is a far more reasonable proposition.
If testing were to run from February 24-26, the first date Australia could realistically occupy would be March 9, though March 16 is also a viable choice.
There’s a degree of logic with that date as another Oceania event could take place in the following weeks – China the most likely – before F1 heads back to the Middle East for Bahrain on April 5 and Saudi Arabia on April 12.
The complication is what that means for the Japanese Grand Prix, which follows two weeks after the Australian GP this year, having been shunted from the back end of the calendar to the front.
Suzuka could move back to its traditional October date or could form part of an early-season run through Asia.
That would likely push the Middle East events back a week, after which we can reasonably predict Miami to follow around April 27 – a week earlier than it is scheduled to host F1 this year.
From there, the sport heads into Europe for the start of May, probably with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix followed by Monaco at the end of the month.
Back in Australia, Formula 2 will continue to support F1 in 2025 as part of the contract signed in 2022.
Speedcafe understands there is interest in having F1 Academy feature on the undercard, likely in place of Formula 3 should that come together.
As far as the other support categories go, it’s believed a new deal will need to be struck with Supercars, which is on a one-year deal for the 2024 event, as there is appetite from both the category and the event to continue that relationship.
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia is also expected to remain a fixture as the fourth support class.
The 2025 F1 calendar remains a work in progress.
