"We're working with them and we're very confident we'll get an outcome, and if that works out to be March 18, then we'll be very happy," Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief executive Andrew Westacott told Fairfax Media. This year's race was held a week later to accommodate a compression of the F1 calendar from late March to early November. While the move to March 23-26 didn't hurt crowds, which were claimed to be more than 12 per cent up on 2016, the grand prix suffered from competing for media exposure with the first weekend of AFL competition and the AFL women's grand final. Under the control of Liberty Media, Formula One Management (FOM) – formerly run by F1 autocrat Bernie Ecclestone, who rejected moves in the past several years to include the Australian Grand Prix support races in the Supercars championship – has been more amendable to co-operating with race organisers. Whatever the outcome of next year's F1 calendar, which FOM hopes to expand from 19 to as many as 22 races with the inclusion of new or restored events, Melbourne will retain its traditional status as the opening race of the season.

Worst case scenario is that scheduling requirements again dictate the 2018 event is staged from March 22-25. "The first race of the season is going to be in Melbourne and we're working with FOM on the date," Westacott said. "Our desire would be to have it on March 18 and if it can't be that, then it's March 25. It's one of those two dates." Whatever the dates, he is confident the V8s racing for title points will be an extra drawcard. "People really like to see competition when there's something on the line," Westacott said. "To use an AFL analogy, it's the difference between the pre-season competition and the premiership. "Now the Supercars races will count for the championship. Everything is going to be on the line."

As well as gaining championship status for the first time at Albert Park, where the V8s have staged non-title exhibition races all but once since the grand prix moved from Adelaide to Melbourne in 1996, Supercars has signed a new deal to stay on the F1 undercard through 2023. That commitment aligns Supercars with the life of the Victorian government's existing F1 agreement. The format of the points-paying races at Albert Park has yet to be finalised, but they will be longer than recent sprints and involve pit stops. The AGPC also wants the Supercars on track on all four days, keeping them as early afternoon entertainment before Sunday's twilight F1 race. "I think Friday works from a twilight point of view on the basis of people coming after work," Supercars chief executive James Warburton told Fairfax Media. "On Saturday, whether it's during the day or whether it's twilight, we have the flexibility to do either." The Adelaide 500 will remain the Supercars season-opener in early March, most likely to be scheduled two weeks before the grand prix.

Adding Melbourne to the Supercars Championship will increase next year's series to at least 15 events – the most since 2012. But 16 or even 17 events – the maximum under the current teams' agreement – is likely with the addition of a new local event and renewed international interest. A new world-class circuit at Tailem Bend, about 100 kilometres north-east of Adelaide, is vying for a spot in next year's V8 calendar, while Malaysia's Sepang circuit, outside Kuala Lumpur, is also interested. Sepang will host its final F1 Malaysian GP in October after ending its contract a year early due to poor crowds and has opened talks with Supercars to join MotoGP as one of its main events. Supercars hasn't raced outside Australasia since 2013, when it made a one-off appearance at the Circuit Of The Americas track near Austin, Texas.

As well as Sepang, Supercars is talking with promoters in other Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia and Thailand. "I think we'll be 16 events," Warburton said. "There are a number of things that have to happen for us, but I'm pretty confident we'll be at 16 championship events in 2018." However, the addition of the Tailem Bend track – a lavish facility due for completion next year – and the possibility of two new Asian events in the next couple of years will put pressure on regional circuits such as Victoria's Winton and Phillip Island and Ipswich's Queensland Raceway, to be retained. "There are a couple of events that need get funding in place – for example, Winton," Warburton warned. "We have probably three or four irons in the fire in terms of 2018 and if we get one, we'll be happy."