At its World Motor Sport Council meeting held in Mexico City on Friday, motorsports governing body the FIA announced a provisional calendar for the 2016 Formula One World Championship, and included for the first time is a race at Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. The calendar also sees the return of the German Grand Prix, a race absent this year, though a location, likely to be either the Hockenheimring or Nürburgring, is yet to be announced.

READ: 2017 Audi R8 First Drive

The inclusion of races in Azerbaijan and Germany means the 2016 calendar grows to 21 races, up from this year’s 19. The Azerbaijan race will revive the European Grand Prix title, and its addition on the calendar is a clear sign of the burgeoning commercial opportunities of the region straddling Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

The FIA also approved two rule changes regarding power units at last week's meeting, both of them effective immediately. The first means new power unit manufacturers, such as Honda this season, will receive an extra power unit for each driver, bringing the total allowable per season to five, while existing suppliers stick with the current four-power unit limit. Secondly, power unit penalties have been simplified, ensuring that the most a driver can be penalized is to be demoted to the rear of the grid, thus ending the current situation where drivers also suffer penalties during the race for these infractions.

MUST WATCH: LaFerrari Nearly Powerslides Right Into Oncoming Traffic: Video

Below is the provisional calendar for the 2016 Formula One World Championship:

April 3 - Australia
April 10 - China
April 24 - Bahrain
May 1 - Russia
May 15 - Spain
May 29 - Monaco
June 12 - Canada
June 26 - United Kingdom
July 3 - Austria
July 17 - Azerbaijan
July 31 - Germany
August 7 - Hungary
August 28 - Belgium
September 4 - Italy
September 18 - Singapore
September 25 - Malaysia
October 9 - Japan
October 23 - United States (Austin)
October 30 - Mexico
November 13 - Brazil
November 27 - Abu Dhabi

_______________________________________

Follow Motor Authority on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.