Question: How many races are in the Formula 1 season?

2019 Formula One World Championship














2019 FIA Formula One
World Championship
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The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship is a planned motor racing championship for Formula One cars which would be the 70th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars.  The championship is due to be contested over a number of Grands Prix held in different countries throughout the world. Drivers and teams are scheduled to compete for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion respectively. The 2019 championship is also scheduled to see the running of the 1000th World Championship race, which is scheduled to be hosted in China.[1][2]
Lewis Hamilton is expected to defend his World Drivers' Champion title, after winning his fifth championship at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix. Mercedes are expected to defend their World Constructor's Champion title after winning their fifth championship at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Entries

Team changes
Red Bull Racing signed a contract that will see the team end its twelve-year partnership with Renault and switch to Honda power units.[14] In doing so, Red Bull Racing joined sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso in using Honda power after Scuderia Toro Rosso joined the Japanese manufacturer in 2018. Neither team will be recognised as Honda's official factory team under the terms of the agreement.[15] The Racing Point F1 Team is expected to be renamed before the start of the new season, completing the transition from Racing Point Force India as a result of the purchase of Sahara Force India team's assets which began in August 2018.[16]Sauber was renamed Alfa Romeo Racing as part of a sponsorship deal.[17]
Driver changes

The lead up to the 2019 championship has seen several driver changes. Daniel Ricciardo will move to Renault after five years with Red Bull Racing.[18][19] Ricciardo's agreement with the team is that he is to replace Carlos Sainz Jr.. Ricciardo's drive at Red Bull Racing has been taken by Pierre Gasly, who has been promoted from Scuderia Toro Rosso with whom he made his first Formula One start at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix.[20] Daniil Kvyat rejoined Toro Rosso after last racing for the team in 2017.[21] He will be partnered with Formula Two driver Alexander Albon, who is set to replace Brendon Hartley at the team.[22] Albon will subsequently become only the second Thai driver to race in Formula One, making his debut 65 years after Prince Bira's last start at the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix.
Sainz Jr., who was on loan to Renault in 2018, did not have his deal with Red Bull renewed and subsequently moved to McLaren to replace two-time World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso,[23] who had earlier announced that he would not compete in Formula One in 2019.[24][25] Sainz Jr. is to be partnered with 2017 European Formula 3 champion Lando Norris.[26] Stoffel Vandoorne left McLaren after the 2018 season to race in Formula E with the Mercedes-affiliated HWA Team.[27][28]
Charles Leclerc left Sauber after one year with the team, joining Ferrari where he took the place of Kimi Räikkönen.[29] Räikkönen is scheduled to return to Sauber, with whom he had started his career in 2001.[30] He will be partnered with Antonio Giovinazzi, who made two starts for the team when he replaced the injured Pascal Wehrlein in 2017.[31][32] Marcus Ericsson is expected to race in the IndyCar Series in 2019, but will remain at Sauber as third driver and brand ambassador.[31][33]
2018 Formula 2 champion George Russell signed a contract to drive for Williams.[34] Robert Kubica is scheduled to return to Formula 1, replacing Sergey Sirotkin at Williams, after an eight-year absence brought on by a near-fatal rally car crash in 2011 that left him with serious arm injuries.[35][36]
Esteban Ocon joined Mercedes as reserve driver, after leaving Racing Point Force India after the 2018 season, and to share the role of simulator driving with Stoffel Vandoorne.[37][38] Ocon will be replaced at Racing Point by Lance Stroll, who left Williams.[39]
List of planned races

Changes
Technical regulations
In a bid to improve overtaking, teams agreed to a series of aerodynamic changes that affect the profile of the front and rear wings. The front wing endplates are expected to be reshaped to alter the airflow across the car and reduce the effects of aerodynamic turbulence. The slot in the rear wing is expected to be widened, making the drag reduction system (DRS) more powerful.[43] The agreed-upon changes were drawn from the findings of a working group set up to investigate potential changes to the technical regulations in preparation for the 2021 championship.
Parts of the technical regulations governing bodywork are planned to be rewritten in a bid to promote sponsorship opportunities for teams.[44] The agreed changes are to mandate smaller bargeboards and limit aerodynamic development of the rear wing endplates to create more space for sponsor logos. The changes were introduced as a response to falling revenues amid teams and the struggles of smaller teams to secure new sponsors.
The mandated maximum fuel levels are due to be raised from 105kg (231.5lb) to 110kg (242.5lb) so as to minimise the need for drivers to conserve fuel during a race.[45][note 2] Driver weights are due to no longer be considered when measuring the minimum weight of the car. This change was agreed to following concerns that drivers were being forced to lose dangerous amounts of weight in order to offset the additional weight of the post-2014 generation of turbo-hybrid engines.[45] Drivers must weigh at least 80kg (176.4lb); any driver that does not make this minimum will be given ballast to make up the difference. This ballast is expected to be located around the seat. The changes were introduced to prevent drivers with a naturally-smaller body shape from having an advantage over taller and heavier drivers.[46]
Driver safety
The FIA introduced a new standard for driver helmets designed to improve safety. Under the new standard, helmets will be subjected to a more thorough range of crash tests aimed at improving energy absorption and deflection as well as reducing the likelihood of objects penetrating the helmet's structure. All certified helmet manufacturers must pass the tests in advance of the 2019 championship to have their certification renewed. Once introduced to Formula One, the new standard will gradually be applied to all helmets used by competitors in every FIA-sanctioned event.[47]
Tyres
Tyre supplier Pirelli plans on renaming its range of tyres following a request from the FIA and the sport's management. The governing body argued that the naming conventions used in 2018 were obtuse and difficult for casual spectators to understand.[48][49] Under the new plan, the names given to particular compounds (hypersoft, ultrasoft, supersoft, soft, medium and hard) will disappear, to be replaced by referring during each race to the three compounds teams have available for that race as soft, medium and hard. This is hoped to aid fans understanding the tyre compounds used at each round. The actual compounds for the season will be referred to by number to the teams, with "1" being the firmest. With the total number of compounds for the season likely to be reduced to five, "5" would be the softest tyre, although having six compounds remains a possibility, with the final number to be determined following post-season testing (seven compounds were technically available in 2018, although as was expected the "superhard" tyre was never used). Pirelli will continue to decide on three of the compounds to be made available for each race. Similarly, the current practice of using different colors to refer to the specific compound (such as pink for the hypersoft) will be discontinued, with white, yellow and red being used for the three compounds available for each race. There will be slight variations in the details on the tyre sidewalls to distinguish between different compounds[50][51]
Notes