While the official 2017 calendar will not be ratified until 30 November, rumours about the shape the calendar will take are flying thick and fast in the Abu Dhabi paddock.

Germany is out for the year, and that has been confirmed by the race promoter and by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, so no surprises are expected on the German front next week. But in previous races there were whispers that, in the event Hockenheim was not on the final calendar, another European venue was waiting in the wings, circuit and money ready to step in should the need arise. That venue? Imola.

It remains to be seen whether the World Motor Sport Council will present the waiting world with a 20- or a 21-round calendar for the next F1 season, but if the Imola rumours are true it would be a pleasant way to mark an end to the summer season, leaving the travelling circus to start the summer shutdown with bellies replete with carbohydrates and wine.

Should the San Marino Grand Prix not make a reappearance in 2017, there will be some adjustments made to the calendar as it currently stands, with Hungary expected to take the place currently occupied by Germany, robbing the paddock of a potential four-week summer break.

Further on, there are also expected to be changes to the version of the calendar published in Q3, with Singapore and Malaysia moving around to leave the F1 night race as a standalone event rather than the former (insane) schedule that saw the travelling circus heading out to Asia and sitting on Asian time for a week before returning to European time for Singapore and then back on to Asian time for Suzuka.

At last, a decision that made sense.

And there may still be further tweaks to come. In a round-table interview at Yas Marina, Baku race promoter Arif Rahimov told F1 journalists that -- in addition to ongoing negotiations regarding renaming the event the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan -- discussions regarding the repositioning of the race on the calendar were also under way.

While the first race in Baku was certainly damaged -- in both media coverage and TV viewership -- by its positioning on this year's calendar, which saw the grand prix competing with the 24 Heures du Mans endurance race, the practicalities were also a challenge, Rahimov acknowledged.

"The time difference works against us," he said. "To be honest we haven't discussed changing the date with Canada, but we want to move it forwards a little bit. It is a logistical nightmare for ourselves as well -- we have six jumbo jets to unload on the Tuesday. That is 900 tonnes of cargo in 24 hours to bring to the circuit. We did it, and F1 cargo was happy with what we did, but it is a tough job."

Keith Sutton/Sutton Images

But for a race determined to have a long-term future in F1 -- Azerbaijan has a 10-year contract to host the race, with a break clause after five years -- media exposure and increased turnout are key, and to achieve those aims a date shift is vital.

"My personal position is that we are not entirely happy with this date," Rahimov said. "We missed a lot of press coverage due to Le Mans. I still think in the motorsport world we were on top of the priority and watch list this year in June, but obviously we want to have more. If we manage to change the date, so not clashing with the [Le Mans] date, it will be more exposure."

Further on in the calendar, there have been suggestions of date changes in the Austin-Mexico-Brazil window, irrespective of whether or not Interlagos manages to salvage its place on the calendar. While there is an awful lot of goodwill around the Brazilian Grand Prix, with the track beloved by most despite the condition of the facilities and surrounding area, the race itself appears to be a patient on the final hours of life support.

The retirement of Felipe Massa followed by this week's announcement that Banco do Brasil had withdrawn their financial backing for Felipe Nasr means that it is unlikely that we will see a Brazilian driver in Formula One in 2017 -- the first time since 1969 that the sport has not had a single entrant from South America's geographical behemoth.

No driver means diminished local interest and diminished funding. Add to that the ongoing problems surrounding former title sponsor Petrobras and the nose-diving value of the Real, and it looks as though a 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix is little more than a nice idea with no real support.

From where I'm standing, at the tail-end of a 21-race season and with the stamped passport to prove it, a 19-round calendar sounds like manna from heaven. Potentially losing two historic rounds -- including one on a still legendary track (Hockenheim was sadly neutered) -- is a crying shame. But change is inevitable, and these changes are not just "as good as a rest": they represent the potential for real R&R.

Looking to the future, another rumour doing the rounds in recent months takes in potential replacements for those races soon to fall. While the F1 fanbase has (understandably) moaned about endless Tilkedromes in unheard of countries looking to boost their global profile, the rumour is that a popular and current race promoter is currently hard at work on a second US race in the area around Palm Springs.