The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has ratified the calendar submitted last month, with Austin and Bahrain still included.

Meeting in New Delhi, the WSMC rubber stamped the twenty-date calendar - the longest in the sport's history - retaining both the United States Grand Prix in Austin, which has been the subject of intense speculation for some time, and the controversial event in Bahrain.

The thumbs-up for Austin follows Pitpass' report that in an eleventh hour bid, promoters at the Circuit of the Americas have paid the $25m race sanction fee to Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One World Championship company. Indeed, an official statement from the organizers in Austin is expected later today.

As for Bahrain, the decision to retain the race comes just days after a bomb exploded close to the British embassy in Manama and amidst rising tension in the Gulf state.

This year, the FIA was left looking foolish having dithered over the event and relying on its own report into the situation in the country, a report that was widely, and rightly, ridiculed.

Date	Race	Circuit
18-Mar	Australia	Melbourne
25-Mar	Malaysia	Sepang
15-Apr	China	Shanghai
22-Apr	Bahrain	Sakhir
13-May	Spain	Barcelona
27-May	Monaco	Monaco
10-Jun	Canada	Montreal
24-Jun	Europe	Valencia
08-Jul	Britain	Silverstone
22-Jul	Germany	Hockenheim
29-Jul	Hungary	Hungaroring
02-Sep	Belgium	Spa Francorchamps
09-Sep	Italy	Monza
23-Sep	Singapore	Singapore
07-Oct	Japan	Suzuka
14-Oct	Korea	Yeongam
28-Oct	India	New Delhi
04-Nov	Abu Dhabi	Yas Marina
18-Nov	United States	Austin
25-Nov	Brazil	Interlagos