F1 reveals new venue for first race as 2025 calendar announced
Australia will host the opening race of the Formula 1 season next year as the 2025 schedule was announced on Friday – with no new races once again on the calendar.
It means Lewis Hamilton will debut for Ferrari at Albert Park in Melbourne, which last hosted the first race in 2019 after Covid put paid to the 2020 opener. Australia will stage the first race of the season on Sunday 16 March – two weeks later than this year’s start date.
Bahrain has hosted the first race of the season since 2021, following on from pre-season testing at the same track in Lusail, but has moved to April due to Ramadan.
Saudi has also moved to April, with China and Japan being shifted forward a month to races two and three respectively. The 24-race season will finish in Abu Dhabi on 7 December.
The 2025 British Grand Prix takes place on 4-6 July at Silverstone.
The venues for pre-season testing and the sprint races are yet to be confirmed.
For the second year running, there will be no new races on the schedule. 2026 is set to be different, though, with Madrid already confirmed as the new home of the Spanish Grand Prix, meaning 2025 could be the last year Barcelona hosts an F1 race.
Albert Park in Melbourne will host the first race of the 2025 F1 season (Getty Images)
Other calendar alterations include a triple-header in April between Japan-Bahrain-Saudi, while Spain has moved forward three weeks to the end of May/start of June.
Belgium and Hungary have swapped weekends too, with Budapest now hosting the final race before the customary summer break.
This year sees a four-week gap in autumn but there will be no such space in the calendar next year, with just one week’s rest in-between Singapore and Austin in October.
2025 F1 CALENDAR IN FULL:
ROUND 1 – AUSTRALIA
Albert Park, Melbourne – 14-16 March
ROUND 2 – CHINA
Shanghai International Circuit – 21-23 March
ROUND 3 – JAPAN
Suzuka International Racing Course – 4-6 April
ROUND 4 —BAHRAIN
Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir – 11-13 April
ROUND 5 – SAUDI ARABIA
Jeddah Corniche Circuit – 18-20 April
ROUND 6 – MIAMI
Miami International Autodrome, Hard Rock Stadium – 2-4 May
ROUND 7 – EMILIA ROMAGNA
Imola Circuit – 16-18 May
ROUND 8 – MONACO
Circuit de Monaco – 23-25 May
ROUND 9 – SPAIN
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – 30 May-1 June
ROUND 10 – CANADA
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal – 13-15 June
ROUND 11 – AUSTRIA
Red Bull Ring, Spielberg – 27-29 June
ROUND 12 – GREAT BRITAIN
Silverstone Circuit – 4-6 July
ROUND 13 – BELGIUM
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps – 25-27 July
ROUND 14 – HUNGARY
Hungaroring, Budapest – 1-3 August
ROUND 15 – NETHERLANDS
Circuit Zandvoort – 29-31 August
ROUND 16 – ITALY
Monza Circuit – 5-7 September
ROUND 17 – AZERBAIJAN
Baku City Circuit – 19-21 September
ROUND 18 – SINGAPORE
Marina Bay Street Circuit – 3-5 October
ROUND 19 – UNITED STATES
Circuit of the Americas, Austin – 17-19 October
ROUND 20 – MEXICO
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City – 24-26 October
ROUND 21 – BRAZIL
Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo – 7-9 November
ROUND 22 – LAS VEGAS
Las Vegas Street Circuit – 20-22 November
ROUND 23 – QATAR
Lusail International Circuit, Lusail – 28-30 November
ROUND 24 – ABU DHABI
Yas Marina Circuit – 5-7 December
