The race at the Istanbul circuit had been called into question when local organisers said it faced the axe because of a disagreement over payments to commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

The calendar issued by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) after a meeting of its world motor sport council in Barcelona listed Turkey as the sixth round of the season on May 6.

Bahrain, whose season-opening race was postponed this season but reinstated on Friday to an Oct. 30 slot on a 20-race calendar, will again be the first round of the 2012 championship on March 11.

But in a departure from this season, Korea will move to April 22 from its current October slot.

The United States returns with a new race in Austin, Texas, on June 17 and the weekend after the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

The season will end with a string of five long-haul races for the Europe-based teams with Singapore on Sept. 30, followed by Japan, India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil as the finale on Nov. 25.

Calendar:

March 11 - Bahrain

March 18 - Australia

April 1 - Malaysia

April 8 - China

April 22 - South Korea

May 6 - Turkey*

May 20 - Spain

May 27 - Monaco

June 10 - Canada

June 17 - United States

July 1 - Valencia, Spain

July 15 - Britain

July 29 - Germany

Aug 5 - Hungary

Sept 2 - Belgium

Sept 9 - Italy

Sept 30 - Singapore

Oct 14 - Japan

Oct 28 - India

Nov 11 - Abu Dhabi

Nov 25 - Brazil