Calm down dear, it's only provisional

Most of us probably wont want to think to much about 2009 yet, but yesterday the FIA released the provisional calendar for the 2009 season. The races are yet to be confirmed and changes can still be made, but there are no real surprises on the first draft of 2009.

I'll look at the races in a moment, but first I want to mention the dates. At the moment, the season looks to be starting much earlier than normal, and ending much later. I'm struggling to find an F1 Grand Prix that has been held as late as November 15th. Perhaps a reason will be provided when an official calendar is released.

The debut race for 2009 is once again Australia. No complaints from me, but if Bernie gets his way this could be the last one in Melbourne. It all depends whether they decide to hold a late or night race, which is unlikely. Malaysia is still next, no further word on the possibility of an Malaysian night race but it looks likely.

The British Grand Pix leapfrogs the French, with no week gap. Another race under threat but with Sliverstone's forthcoming improvements, F1 looks like it will stay in the UK. France somehow remains on the calendar after two final GP's. The German Grand Prix switches back to the Nurburgring and Turkey returns to it's later season date.

The Japanese Grand Prix is back in Suzuka (yes!) after a two year break and the season finale leaves Brazil and heads off to the newcomer, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The GP will take place around the Yas Island circuit as a further expansion into the middle east. Of course this calendar is only provisional and everything I've just said could be irrelevant depending on what changes are made. The official calendar will be released later in the season around September/October time when more minds are on 2009.