According to organizers of the Australian Grand Prix, the Bahrain Grand Prix will kick-off the 2008 Formula One World Championship season.

Having hosted the season-opener in 2006, this will be the second time that Bahrain has kicked off the World Championship season.

The announcement, which has yet to be officially confirmed by the FIA, came in a statement released by the organizers of the Australian race, Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC). In the statement, AGPC chairman Ron Walker revealed that Melbourne will host the second round of the 2008 season, currently sheduled for March 16.

Furthermore, despite talk of Melbourne hosting Formula One's first ever night race, the 2008 GP will get underway ninety-minutes later than usual in an effort to make the broadcast time more user-friendly in Europe, which remains the sport's heartland.

"Taking all factors into account, this is the best option for our event and the people who support it," said Walker in the statement.

Referring to talk of a night race, Walker said: "Our investigations have convinced us that as things currently stand, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Instead, we have decided to run the F1 race later on Sunday, moving the start time from 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. We need to ensure all of our partners are comfortable with this and we're working through that process now.

"Going later will benefit fans at Albert Park who will enjoy an even bigger day of entertainment and people watching the race live in other parts of the world, especially Europe, where fans will be able to get up closer to breakfast time."

In recent years the Melbourne event has continued to lose money, a situation not helped this year by the absence of the highly-popular V8 Supercars. Walker confirmed that the new slot on the calendar will allow the V8s to be part of the GP programme once again.