2017 Formula One season

The 2017 Formula One season will be the 68th season of the FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Teams and drivers will compete for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' Championships.

Signed teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers are currently signed to take part in the 2017 Formula One World Championship:

List of planned races

The following eighteen Grands Prix are currently under contract to take place in 2017.

Calendar changes

Changes

Technical regulations

Grand Prix

Grand Prix (French pronunciation: ​[ɡʁɑ̃pʁi], meaning Grand Prize; plural Grands Prix) may refer to:

Sports competitions

Formula One

Formula One (also Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of single-seat auto racing that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been the premier form of racing since the inaugural season in 1950, although other Formula One races were regularly held until 1983. The "formula", designated in the name, refers to a set of rules, to which all participants' cars must conform. The F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix (from French, originally meaning great prizes), held throughout the world on purpose-built F1 circuits and public roads.

The results of each race are evaluated using a points system to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers, one for constructors. The racing drivers are required to be holders of valid Super Licences, the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA. The races are required to be held on tracks graded 1 (formerly A), the highest grade a track can receive by the FIA. Most events are held in rural locations on purpose-built tracks, but there are several events in city centres throughout the world, with the Monaco Grand Prix being the most obvious and famous example.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi (US /ˈɑːbuː ˈdɑːbi/, UK /ˈæbuː ˈdɑːbi/; Arabic: أبو ظبي‎ Abū Ẓabī Emirati pronunciation [ɐˈbuˈðˤɑbi]) is the capital and the second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (the most populous being Dubai), and also capital of Abu Dhabi emirate, the largest of the UAE's seven member emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had a population of 1.5 million in 2014.

Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family. Abu Dhabi's rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed the city into a large and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's center of political and industrial activities, and a major cultural and commercial centre, due to its position as the capital. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $400-billion United Arab Emirates economy.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Arabic: سباق جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى) is a Formula One race. It was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The first race took place on 1 November 2009, held at the Hermann Tilke designed Yas Marina Circuit.

On 25 June 2008 the FIA announced the provisional 2009 Formula One calendar including the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the 19th and final race of the season on 15 November. On 5 November 2008, however, it was announced that the race would be held as the season finale on 1 November, two weeks before the initially planned date, as the 17th and final race.

The inaugural race was Formula One's first ever day-night race, starting at 17:00 local time. Floodlights used to illuminate the circuit were switched on from the start of the event to ensure a seamless transition from daylight to darkness. Subsequent Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have also been day-night races.

History

Origin

Formula 1 first came to Abu Dhabi in 2007 in the guise of the first ever Formula One Festival. Announced in January 2007, the event which took place on 3 February 2007 was free, and the largest gathering of current Formula One cars and drivers outside of a Grand Prix. At the festival it was announced that Abu Dhabi had won the rights to host a Grand Prix from 2009 until 2016. Later that year, Etihad Airways negotiated a three-year deal for them to become sponsors of the Grand Prix.