F1 announce start times for this season's grands prix

Formula 1 has announced the start times of all the grands prix on this year's record-breaking 23-race calendar.

As revealed by GPFans Global at the start of the year, F1 has reverted back to start times on the hour rather than 10 past, while all European events, in particular, will start an hour earlier.

The switch to 10 minutes past the hour starts, and the later European race starts, was made ahead of the 2018 campaign as new owners Liberty Media felt it would better suit television programmers as well as increase viewing figures.

It became apparent over time, however, that the benefits were minimal, and for the teams especially they were also detrimental as the later race starts had a knock-on effect with regard to the finish time for post-race pack up.

Also for this year, as previously confirmed, there will only be two hours of free practice on a Friday, split across two one-hour sessions, compared to the previous three of past seasons.

2021 F1 calendar race start times

Bahrain [March 28] - 1800 local; 1500 GMT

Imola [April 18] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

TBC May 2

Spain [May 9] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Monaco [May 23] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Azerbaijan [June 6] - 1600 local; 1200 GMT

Canada [June 13] - 1400 local; 1800 GMT

France [June 27] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Austria [July 4] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Great Britain [July 18] - 1500 local; 1400 GMT

Hungary [August 1] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Belgium [August 29] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Netherlands [September 5] 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Monza [September 12] - 1500 local; 1300 GMT

Russia [September 26] - 1500 local; 1200 GMT

Singapore [October 3] - 2000 local; 1200 GMT

Japan [October 10] - 1400 local; 0500 GMT

United States [October 24] - 1400 local; 1900 GMT

Mexico [October 31] - 1300 local; 1900 GMT

Brazil [November 7] - 1400 local; 1700 GMT

Australia [November 21] - 1700 local; 0600 GMT

Saudi Arabia [December 5] - 1900 local; 1600 GMT

Abu Dhabi [December 12] - 1700 local; 1300 GMT

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