2031 Formula One season
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The 2031 Formula One season will be the 20th running of the Formula One championship. Three championships will be up for grabs as the Championship of Drivers, Championship of Constructors and Championship of Engines.
Calendar[edit | edit source]
A provisional calendar was published before the start of the 2030 season. In recent previous years the calendar was run fairly strictly to comply with the Grand Prix Calendar Cycle last modified in 2025, however the cycle was unofficially abandoned for the previous season, and 2031's calendar continues that that abandonment.
Compared to the previous year, the non-Jewel rounds of Abu Dhabi, China, Singapore, and Sweden were missing while Algeria, Bahrain, Mexico, Turkey, and another United States Grand Prix were added. Canada, France, and Hungary, races which are not considered Jewel by the calendar cycle, were continued despite being in the calendar last year as well.
Signed teams and drivers[edit | edit source]
The FIA announced another change to the numbering system for this season. Numbers will be assigned as normal, however teams chose to either use their assigned numbers, or designate their two cars specific custom numbers as long as they are not in the list of existing designated numbers. Provisionally, available numbers for this season are 26–99, 100, 110, 120, ..., 990, and triple-digit numbers except 000. Each year the teams will chose whether to use their FIA-assigned numbers or their custom numbers. They automatically gain the right to change their custom numbers at 10 year intervals starting 2040. Otherwise, they can apply to change their numbers and the FIA will grant their application at their discretion.
Sauber grabbed number 8, based on the car number they won their first championship in, as well as 11 which Dieter Aschelman raced in. Williams were granted number 5, after Nigel Mansell's Red 5 car in the 80s and 90s, and their new stylised Blue 6. Toyota grabbed 19 and 37 – an ode to the their founding year. Ferrari obviously were granted their historically-used numbers of 27 and 28. Santander got 100, 110, cause why not. South McLaren got 9 and 22, both of which they won a driver's title in. North were given 7 and 14, for some unexplained reason. Grosjean wanted double 8 and triple 8 – apparently he likes the number 8. Russian Time took numbers 91 and 92, cause Russia, and Virgin/Ford took 17 and 76, cause America. Minardi went with their assigned numbers during the 80s and 90s of 23 and 24.
Team changes[edit | edit source]
Of significant note, Toyota's controlling stake in Santander is up for renewal, as are Honda's deals with South McLaren, Minardi and Janz, as well as Ferrari's with North McLaren.
Ford, seeing its team's 6-year stagnation, decided to take a step back from managing their racing operation and focus on their engine. They agreed with Virgin that the British company would take control of the racing operation under the existing American license Ford had. Virgin previously expressed an interest in establishing a team during the 2030 team entry bids. There was much speculation about the continued sponsorship and supply deal that the team have with Lockheed Martin since Virgin have a lot of business overlap with the sponsor, however it was revealed that Lockheed Martin would also shift its money and efforts to the engine operation in order to allow Virgin to focus on the team.
Continuing the downward trend of relations between South McLaren and Honda in 2030, South McLaren announced their intention to find an alternative factory engine supplier to work with for this year. Their options were limited though: Renault are interested in eventually acquiring a team which South McLaren are not willing to give, Ferrari and Toyota are constructors, Ford is simmering its involvement in F1, and BMW-Ilmor are bonded quite tightly with Williams. South will search for suppliers outside of F1 and in the meantime, wait until it's clear who has the edge towards the end of 2030 and get their engines. Potential manufacturer engine suppliers are Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Lambourghini, Porsche, Peugeot, and other racing/precision engineering supplier candidates are Arrows/Hart (new name needed), Coba, Pratt & Whitney, and Texco.
Driver changes[edit | edit source]
Ferrari intend on promoting one of their test drivers, Cordell Dudley or Tor Horn, to a full driver for this season, replacing at least one of their existing drivers Kulmala or Vergne.