F1 set for late 2016 start

The 2016 Formula 1 season will start in April for the first time since 1988, it has been announced.

The season typically starts in mid-March, but the FIA has said that the first race of 2016 will take place on April 3 in Australia.

The race at Albert Park will start one hour earlier than this year, due to an earlier sunset.

It is thought that organisers are keen to condense the season, in order to help teams with the financial burden of travel.

All the teams, except Manor, went back to their European base in the two-week gap between the Malaysian Grand Prix, and the Chinese Grand Prix.

AUTOSPORT reports that the race in Shanghai will be promoted to be the second race of the season and will be staged just one week after the opener in Melbourne.

Start of the 2014 Australian F1 GP

The season will still finish in November, meaning there will be less two or three week gaps between races. However, the summer break, which lasts for four weeks in July and August, will remain.

Next season, it is expected that the German Grand Prix will return to the calendar at Hockenheim, while a new race in Azerbaijan is in the pipeline.

There is a suggestion that the FIA want a condensed championship to help get teams to agree to more races in the season.

The provisional 2016 calendar is expected to be out in the summer.

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