The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) issued a statement, yesterday, stating that, it welcomes the new date of 22 April for the 2012 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. According to the BIC statement, this new date came after the Indian Grand Prix organisers requested for a date switch.
Last week, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), had published a revision to the 20 race calendar of 2012 Formula 1 World Championship. According to the FIA, the definitive calendar had been modified unanimously by a fax vote of its World Motor Sport Council. This fax vote also made many other important changes to the draft version.
The BIC statement mentioned that the organisers of the Indian Grand Prix had requested the Formula One Management (FOM) for a change of date in the 2012 Formula One World Championship. BIC has announced that it welcomes the date switch with India for hosting the 2012 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on 22 April, 2012.
This year, the Bahrain Grand Prix, was to be the season-opener, however, it was not held owing to civil unrest in the kingdom. It has again lost its place as the season-opener in 2012 to be the fourth round on April 22. This has come as quite a surprise, as there were speculations regarding the Bahrain GP being moved to November.
Now, the season of 2012, would open with Melbourne being the host for the Australian Grand Prix, just like the 2011 season. The second race, which would be held at Malaysia, has been moved ahead to 25 March to be a back to back fixture with Australia on 18 March. Similarly, the China and Bahrain rounds have been paired on consecutive weekends in April 2012.
The announcement was made after officials from the Indian Grand Prix had raised concerns to FOM regarding the hosting of the race in April. The Indian Grand Prix has now been scheduled for 28 October 2012, instead of being held in April 2012. India would now be the venue for the 17th round of the World Championship.
