The Formula One Series has set a provisional schedule for 2009 that includes 19 races, the most on a schedule since 2005.
The season is set to open in Australia the end of March and conclude in mid-November at a new race in Abu Dhabi. For a second straight year, the series has not scheduled a race in the United States. The Canadian Grand Prix on June 7 is the only one scheduled in North America.
In 2008 the season started in Malaysia before heading to Australia and on the provisional 2009 schedule, the order of those two races is reversed. An additional change in 2009 is the placement of the British Grand Prix before the French Grand Prix.
Abu Dhabi, a state in the United Arab Emirates federation, was granted a race date for the 2009 season in early 2007.
"This is another important milestone for the 2009 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. There has been a great deal of speculation about the timing of our race and we are delighted with the provisional date of Nov. 15, 2009 as this is the last race of the season and potentially the Championship decider," HKhaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Motor Sport Management and Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority said. "This timing also ensures that visitors to the Emirate will be able to enjoy some of the best weather Abu Dhabi has to offer."
The 2009 Formula One Series provisional schedule is as follows:
Mar 29 Australia Apr 05 Malaysia Apr 19 Bahrain May 10 Spain May 24 Monaco Jun 07 Canada Jun 21 Britain Jun 28 France Jul 12 Germany Jul 26 Hungary Aug 09 Turkey Aug 23 Europe (Valencia, Spain) Sep 06 Italy Sep 13 Belgium Sep 27 Singapore Oct 11 Japan Oct 18 China Nov 01 Brazil Nov 15 Abu Dhabi
