Malaysia changes race start time

Sepang bosses have been under pressure from Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone to hold a night race in the country, but have agreed a similar compromise to Melbourne in holding their event at 5pm.

Although the shift in race start time has not resulted in a changed weekend schedule for Malaysia, there is a chance that the Friday and Saturday schedule for Australia may change.

Formula One Management has announced on the official F1 website that the timetable for Melbourne will be moved back on each of its days.

It states that the first 90-minutes practice session of the season will start at 12.30pm on Friday, with second practice beginning at 4.30pm. The final hour of practice will take place at 2pm on Saturday, with qualifying starting at 5pm.

It is understood, however, that these changes to the timetable have not yet been confirmed by the FIA.

Should they go ahead, the changes in the timetable will ensure that F1 cars run at a time that it more suitable for a European television audience - one of the key reasons why Ecclestone wanted the race to start so late.

Speaking when he signed the new deal with Melbourne last year, Ecclestone said: "I have wanted changes to the local race time so that we can increase the television audience in Europe and Asia.

"I'm satisfied that the decision to move to a later start time for 2009 races is a win for television audiences in Europe and Asia, a win for Melbourne and a win for Formula One as a whole."

The shift in the weekend timetable in Australia provides further evidence of how F1 is breaking with tradition in a bid to maximise its television impact.

Last year's first night race in Singapore also featured a heavily revised timetable, with practice and qualifying taking place at night.

DATE        GP                   LAPS    START TIME
29/03       Australia             58       17:00
05/04       Malaysia              56       17:00
19/04       China                 56       15:00
26/04       Bahrain               57       15:00
10/05       Spain                 66       14:00
24/05       Monaco                78       14:00
07/06       Turkey                58       15:00
21/06       Great Britain         60       13:00
12/07       Germany               60       14:00
26/07       Hungary               70       14:00
23/08       Europe                57       14:00
30/08       Belgium               44       14:00
13/09       Italy                 53       14:00
27/09       Singapore             61       20:00
04/10       Japan                 53       14:00
18/10       Brazil                71       14:00
01/11       Abu Dhabi             55       15:00