The 2016 Formula One championship is set to start two weeks earlier than originally planned.

FIA, the sport's governing body, has released a revised provisional schedule with the season getting underway at the Australian Grand Prix on March 20 instead of April 3.

The race in Melbourne will be followed by events in Bahrain, China, Russia, Spain, Monaco and Canada before the new European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 19.

A record 21 races remain on the calendar, with the season ending on Nov. 27 in Abu Dhabi.

A number of rule modifications were also announced at a World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris, including a change increasing the noise of cars, a measure that "will not have any significant effect on power or emissions."