The organizers of the Australian GP have confirmed that the race will not serve as a substitute for the 2027 Formula 1 season in the event that the first race cannot be held in Bahrain.
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The calendar for the upcoming championship was released this week, with Melbourne scheduled to be the third stop of the championship. The expected date is between April 1st and 4th, following the stops in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for two consecutive weeks.
However, with the uncertainty of the war in the Middle East, there is still the possibility that the first two stages of the year in Sakhir and Jeddah may not be held, with Albert Park, which was the opening of the F1 season from 1996 to 2019, and then in 2025 and 2026, emerging as a substitute.
Therefore, this would mean moving the Australian GP three weeks earlier to mid-March, but for several reasons, this would not be possible.
One of the reasons is that, between March 11 and 15, during that very weekend, Australia will host England for a special and unique test in celebration of the 150th anniversary, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), located within walking distance of Albert Park.
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Another reason is that the circuit’s pit lane building was demolished and is in the process of being rebuilt, and will only be fully operational for the 2028 race, with facilities partially available for 2027.
“Now our date is set: from April 1st to 4th. And, clearly, we have a large structure being built behind us, which has some deadlines to meet. So, we are practically confirmed for the date of April 1st to 4th, and I believe it would be difficult to change this date now,” said Travis Auld, CEO of the Australian GP Corporation, to the Australian press.
“Our contract with F1 establishes that we must be somewhere between the first and third race each year. In the last two seasons, we were the first race. I think what worked very well for us was holding a race early in the season. The story of the season is still beginning to unfold. And, this year, we will be the third race,” he added.
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