F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 6y

F1 confirms tweaks to weekend schedule for 2018

Formula 1, AutoRacing

Formula One has confirmed a shake-up of its weekend schedule for the 2018 season.

Liberty Media continues to make changes ahead of its sophomore season in control of the sport. On Thursday, a day after confirming races will no longer feature 'grid girls', F1 released a full timetable of every session set to take place in 2018 -- featuring some noticeable differences to 2017.

The most obvious is that every grand prix will now start 10 minutes later than usual, to allow broadcasters to build-up to a race if their programming happens to start on the hour.

A statement said: "Some broadcasters usually go on air precisely on the hour, hence missing the tension and emotion that characterize the minutes before the start of each Grand Prix.

"Thanks to this change, television viewers will be brought closer to the teams and the drivers and fully enjoy the spectacle offered just before the red lights go out."

The entire weekend timetable for European races, and the Brazilian Grand Prix, have also been shifted back an hour because "research has indicated that a wider TV audience [for those races] is reachable later in the afternoons, especially in the summer months."

The full schedule can be seen below.

Minor adjustments have also been made to avoid clashes with other major sports events. For example, the French Grand Prix will start at 16:10 local time to avoid overlapping with the World Cup group game between England and Panama.

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