The 2007 Formula One Season

In the racing world, 2006 was a historic year. With the retirement of Michael Schumacher, arguably one of Formula 1's greatest drivers, the sport has lost a huge icon and a crowd puller. And in his shoes, steps in Kimi Raikonnen, or at least one hopes so.

While the sport has lost a legend, it has also gained many new exciting drivers in Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen amongst others.

Along with the driver lineup changes, there have been massive changes in the rules and regulations for the next two years. Most important of them being the engine freeze and the single type supplier (which are topics for separate blog posts in themselves) all promise to make for a radical year for Formula 1.

In addition to the above, there have been quite some changes to the track line ups as well. Personally for me, the biggest loss is the beautiful Suzuka racing course, Japan which has been replaced by the Fuji Speedway. I have never seen a race on the Fuzi speedway so I cannot comment on it but I do know that Suzuka was one of the better tracks loved by both fans and drivers. On the good news side, the Spa (Belgium) and Monte Carlo (Monaco) tracks are there in this year's line up after some uncertainty over their inclusion.

The complete race lineup for this year are as follows:
(The date range is for the start of testing [Friday] to the actual race [Sunday] over a full weekend)

Melbourne, Australia: 16 - 18 Mar
Sepang, Malaysia: 06 - 08 Apr
Bahrain, Bahrain: 13 - 15 Apr
Barcelona, Spain: 11 - 13 May
Monte Carlo, Monaco: 25 - 27 May
Montreal, Canada: 08 - 10 Jun
Indianapolis, USA: 15 - 17 Jun
Magny-Cours, France: 29 Jun - 01 Jul
Silverstone, Great Britain: 06 - 08 Jul
Nurburgring, Germany: 20 - 22 Jul
Hungaroring, Hungary: 03 - 05 Aug
Istanbul Park, Turkey: 24 - 26 Aug
Monza, Italy: 07 - 09 Sep
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium: 14 - 16 Sep
Fuji, Japan: 28 - 30 Sep
Shanghai, China: 05 - 07 Oct
Interlagos, Brazil: 19 - 21 Oct