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<br>By Ian Ransom<br> <br>MELBOURNE, April 11 (Reuters) - Record crowds at the Australian Grand Prix were a welcome boost for organisers after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 but where the race sits in the Formula One calendar remains up in the air.<br> <br>Albert Park has traditionally hosted the championship's opener but was [https://eyangslot.blogspot.com/ slotted] in as the third stop this year after a Middle East doubleheader in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.<br> <br>An estimated 419,000 people flocked to Albert Park over the four-day race week from Thursday to Sunday, outstripping the previous record attendance of about 401,000 when Melbourne's lakeside circuit first hosted the Grand Prix in 1996.<br> <br>While the crowds underlined a Netflix-fuelled resurgence of interest in F1, drivers were cool on the race's scheduling as a standalone week before the series continues in Italy.<br> <br>"Just coming to Australia for a single race is quite painful for everyone," said Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, runner-up to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Sunday.<br> <br>"We all want to come here, but there are ways we can improve and in fairness to F1, Australia hasn´t been on the calendar for the last (two) years.<br> <br>"I´m sure that going forward they can have a look at it."<br> <br>While Mercedes' George Russell said Albert Park's previous scheduling as a season-opener was "cool", drivers may not be willing to shift from the new arrangement, which has had Bahrain hosting the first race after pre-season testing in the Gulf nation.<br> <br>"It works well at the moment because we are doing the [https://blogfreely.net/eyangslot/ winter testing] in Bahrain, it makes sense to stay there," said Perez.<br> <br>Australia's future scheduling may depend on the proximity of other races in its East Asian timezone.<br> <br>After a three-year absence due to COVID-19, China is slated to return next year, with Shanghai renewing its contract with F1 through to 2025.<br> <br>Shanghai's usual April situs slot paling gacor ([https://about.me/eyangslot navigate to this site]) would be a natural tie-up for Australia in an early season Asian swing, though the Chinese government's strict "zero-COVID" approach could make the race untenable if sustained into 2023.<br> <br>Shanghai is currently locked down as it battles China's worst outbreak of COVID-19 since it emerged in Wuhan in late 2019.<br> <br>Formula One returns to east Asia in early-October with a swing through Singapore (Oct. 2) and Japan a week later.<br> <br>Moving Australia to link up with Singapore and Japan in a late-season swing next year may be another option if Shanghai were to drop out again.<br> <br>However, that is not a palatable option for local organisers, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC).<br> <br>"We've proven that we can have success both opening the season and coming in after a couple of races," AGPC boss Andrew Westacott told Reuters on Monday.<br> <br>"The time for Formula One in Australia is early in the season."<br> <br>While Westacott noted a standalone race in Melbourne was unpopular with F1 teams, he said the series' expansion into new markets meant they had "better get used to" heading to different locations.<br> <br>"The drivers have got to stop whinging in some respects," he said.<br> <br>(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)<br><br><br>            adverts.addToArray({"pos":"inread_player"})Advertisement