FIA releases arduous final calendar for 2012

F1’s governing body on Wednesday published a re-jigged final calendar for the 2012 season.

The unprecedented 20-race schedule begins with back-to-back races in Australia and Malaysia, with the next two grands prix also taking place on consecutive weekends.

The final leg of the opening ’flyaway’ season is Bahrain in late April, despite earlier provisional calendars giving the island Kingdom either a March or November date.

Former FIA president Max Mosley said there should still be some uncertainty about Bahrain’s return to F1.

"I would monitor the situation and set them a deadline, say the first of March next year."

"It would be rude to shut them out forever, but they do need to completely prove that the situation has calmed down," he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

The latest 2012 calendar confirms the axe of the Turkish grand prix in Istanbul, and sees India receive a late October date once again despite recent speculation of a move to earlier in the schedule.

The final calendar, ratified by fax by the World Motor Sport Council, features no fewer than seven back-to-back pairings in total.

These include arduous consecutive events in China/Brazil, Japan/Korea, India/Abu Dhabi and the US/Brazil.