For round 17 of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the grand prix moves to South Korea, to write a new chapter in the sport's history. This inaugural Korean Grand Prix takes Formula One to the fast-developing Asian state, whose economy is now the world's 15th-largest.

With only four rounds of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship remaining, Japan’s Suzuka circuit is the venue for one of the final acts in this year’s intensely fought title battle.

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has released the calendar for the 2011 world championship. The addition of the Indian Grand Prix makes for a 20-race season - one more round than in 2010 and the longest in Formula One history.

With the inaugural Korean Grand Prix just under two months away, organisers have released a set of images of the brand-new Yeongam track. The circuit, which is currently 90 percent complete, will hold a special event this weekend to mark the 50-day countdown to the Korean race.

Round nine of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship visits Spain for the second time this season, as the Valencia Street Circuit hosts its third edition of this itinerant event. Skirting the harbour area of downtown Valencia, the circuit and its surrounding infrastructure were designed to make new use of facilities built for the 2007 America’s Cup.

The Canadian Grand Prix returns to the Formula One calendar, after a one-year absence, to host round eight of this year’s FIA Formula One World Championship. A fixture since 1967, at three venues, the Canadian GP is most strongly associated with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where the race has been held since 1978, apart from 1987 and 2009. This year’s race will be the 41st edition of the Canadian GP.

Gradients, swooping curves, an anti-clockwise layout and a dramatic triple-apex bend make Istanbul Park one of the drivers’ favourites on the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar. Built for the 2005 season by architect Hermann Tilke – creator of several other Formula One venues – Istanbul Park allowed Turkey to become a new Formula One host nation. And in the five grands prix held since, Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who won a hat-trick of races from 2006-2008, each time from pole position, has emerged as the man to beat.

The world-renowned Monaco Grand Prix hosts round six of this year's FIA Formula One World Championship. One of only four current races to have formed part of the original 1950 Formula One World Championship, the Monaco Grand Prix this year makes its 57th appearance on the Formula One calendar.

The Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, which this weekend hosts round five of the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, has been a fixture on the F1 calendar since 1991.

High speeds and high temperatures are virtual certainties for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, as round three of the FIA Formula One World Championship takes place at the Sepang International Circuit. Typical ambient heat of more than 30 °C and high seasonal humidity present an annual challenge to equal the fast, twisty nature of the track: heavy tropical downpours are a near-certainty and the unscheduled arrival of storm clouds is beyond the control of even F1's brightest minds.