Australian Grand Prix start time brought forward for 2015 // Five races change times to improve safety
Published by Christine
Organisers for the Australian Grand Prix and several other races throughout the season have agreed to bring their start times forward by one hour in an attempt to avoid running in the dark. The changes, applicable to Australia, Malaysia, China, Japan and Russia, have been brought about after the accident panel findings following Jules Bianchi’s accident last year.
The panel recommended avoiding situations where a race runs on into the dark, without sufficient floodlighting in place, suggesting: “the start time of an event shall not be less than four hours before either sunset or dusk.” The FIA didn’t include this in their regulation changes for 2015, but organisers have opted to obey the suggestion.
Just last week, GP boss Andrew Westacott in Melbourne said they would be sticking with their 5pm start time to get the best audience figures around the globe possible. However, he’s obviously changed his mind, as the event will get underway at 4pm, with qualifying on Saturday still at 5.
