Sport

Britain gets July slot in longest season

Motor sport 2005 Formula One calendar The British Grand Prix will take place on July 10th next season at Silverstone

Sat Dec 11 2004 - 00:00

Motor sport 2005 Formula One calendarThe British Grand Prix will take place on July 10th next season at Silverstone. The FIA confirmed the date yesterday when they released the official 2005 Formula One calendar.

The British event retains its climate-favourable summer slot but has been scheduled a week later than originally planned to avoid a clash with the Wimbledon tennis finals.

The future of the historic race had been in doubt but was secured on Thursday after F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone agreed a five-year deal with the circuit's owners, the BRDC.

The San Marino and French Grands Prix, whose futures on the calendar had also been doubtful, will go ahead on April 24th and July 3rd respectively, making it the longest Formula One season with 19 rounds in total.

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The season opens, as usual, in Australia on March 6th and heads to Malaysia and Bahrain before the gruelling European season starts with the San Marino Grand Prix in late April. Between May's Monaco Grand Prix and August's race in Hungary, there will be eight races in the space of 10 weeks, an unprecedented schedule for the sport's teams.

While most of the races retain their familiar slots on the calendar, Brazil has been shifted from the season-ending place it enjoyed this year to a September date. China's state-of-the-art circuit in Shanghai will host the championship's final race.

One new event features on the calendar as the teams will, for the first time, travel to a new circuit in Turkey, 80km east of Istanbul.

2005 FORMULA ONE CALENDAR

Mar 6th: Australian Grand Prix; Mar 20th: Malaysian Grand Prix; Apr 3rd: Bahrain Grand Prix; Apr 24th: San Marino Grand Prix; May 8th: Spanish Grand Prix; May 22nd: Monaco Grand Prix; May 29th: European Grand Prix; Jun 12th: Canadian Grand Prix; Jun 19th: US Grand Prix; Jul 3rd: French Grand Prix; Jul 10th: British Grand Prix; Jul 24th: German Grand Prix; Jul 31st: Hungarian Grand Prix; Aug 21st: Turkish Grand Prix; Sept 4th: Italian Grand Prix; Sept 11th: Belgian Grand Prix; Sept 25th: Brazilian Grand Prix; Oct 9th: Japanese Grand Prix; Oct 16th: Chinese Grand Prix.