GP2 set to kick off 2017 season in Bahrain

The Formula 1-supporting championship last raced in Bahrain in 2015, when it visited the Gulf state twice - once for the season opener and a second standalone event held in support of the WEC 6 Hours of Bahrain.

While GP2 did not visit Bahrain in 2016, with the campaign's season-opening round, Michel says the Sakhir circuit will be back on the schedule for 2017.

"One thing is that we go back to Bahrain, for GP2 only," Michel told Motorsport.com when asked about next season's calendar. "For the rest, I'm still working on it."

Asked if Sochi, which hosted GP2 in 2015 but was axed for 2016, was set to return to the schedule, Michel replied: "I'm not finished with the calendar yet, but we won't go to Sochi."

Michel said that a solution to add an 11th round to the schedule was still being worked on, with Malaysia unlikely to return to the calendar to fill the 12-week gap between Monza and Abu Dhabi.

"I'm not sure if we will go back to Malaysia," said Michel. "So maybe we will do another [different] race. I don't know yet.

"There are almost three months between Monza and Abu Dhabi, so we need to do something in the middle. But since we want to save as much cost as possible, we go to Abu Dhabi by boat, so we need five weeks to go [there from] anywhere.

"We're not going to fly, it costs too much money. So if we do something, [it will be] in September, to have plenty of time to go to Abu Dhabi by boat."

Asked if this could mean a standalone event not alongside an F1 race, Michel responded: "I don't know yet. Nothing is excluded."

Possible 2017 GP2 calendar:

Date	Venue
15-16 April	Bahrain
13-14 May	Catalunya
26-27 May	Monaco
24-25 June	Baku
8-9 July	Red Bull Ring
15-16 July	Silverstone
29-30 July	Hungaroring
26-27 August	Spa
2-3 September	Monza
September	?
25-26 November	Abu Dhabi