Australian GP loses season opening slot to Bahrain GP
Melbourne will no longer host the season's opening race as the Australian organisers refused Bernie Ecclestone's idea of running the race at night. Instead, Bahrain will host the event with Melbourne following it on March 16. To meet European viewers' expectations at least partially, the next Melbourne race will start unusually late, at 3:30 PM. Australian GP has been opening the season since 1996. Only last year the organisers had to move it to 3rd race of the season, as the date collided with the Commonwealth Games.