F1 2018 calendar officially confirmed

Cape Town - The FIA have officially announced the 2018 calendar after the World Motor Sport Council met for the final time this year in Paris.

The 2018 season gets underway at Albert Park in Australia on March 25 with the season finale once again in Abu Dhabi, this time falling on November 25.

Bahrain and China have swapped positions on the schedule, with the latter race weekend moved back to April 15 and to round three of 21 of the 2018 campaign.

France and Germany are both back on the calendar and the former marks the start of the first ever triple-header in Formula One on June 24, followed by Austria (July 1) and the British Grand Prix (July 8), which will close out the first half of the 2018 season.

The United States Grand Prix is subject to confirmation by the national sporting authority, but there is not expected to be any issues.

2018 F1 calendar in full:

March 25: Australia

April 8: Bahrain

April 15: China

April 29: Azerbaijan

May 13: Spain

May 27: Monaco

June 10: Canada

June 24: France

July 1: Austria

July 8: Britain

July 22: Germany

July 29: Hungary

August 26: Belgium

September 2: Italy

September 16: Singapore

September 30: Russia

October 7: Japan

October 21: USA*

October 28: Mexico

November 11: Brazil

November 25: Abu Dhabi

*subject to confirmation