Team bosses assert: F1 needs to go where money is.

Team bosses assert: F1 needs to go where money is.

Fri 04 Apr, 01:35 PM

Middle East increasingly important to the sport, teams acknowledge - but we need to retain winter break.

Team bosses have come out in support of Ron Dennis' vision for a 20-race Formula 1 calendar with an increased focus on the Middle East - but they are adamant that figure must be an absolute limit.

Speaking to delegates during the Motor Sport Business Forum in Bahrain ahead of Sunday's grand prix in the desert kingdom - the first time the forum has taken place away from its traditional Monaco home - the McLaren-Mercedes team principal called for the sport to move in an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, direction in the years to come. He was also enthusiastic about F1's recent expansion into the Middle East, with the inaugural race in Sakhir back in 2004 and Abu Dhabi set to follow suit next year.

"I welcome this expansion," the 60-year-old underlined, "and heartily commend Bernie Ecclestone for spearheading it, but I have two provisos. Firstly, that the season never expands to more than 20 grands prix, which I regard as a natural logistical limit; secondly, that we preserve a close-season over the winter.

"The close-season is essential not only for logistical reasons, but also in order to stir up a sense of anticipation in the hearts and minds of F1 fans. My firm belief is that the season should expand to not more than 20 grands prix.

"F1 must remain the pinnacle of motorsport, from an engineering point-of-view as well as from every other point-of-view. The day when F1 stakeholders - and I include F1 fans in that categorisation - begin to doubt F1's status as the pinnacle of motorsport, we are lost.

"We need to make F1 less expensive, too, and we need to do that very carefully. In order for F1 to continue to thrive in the way it has thrived over the past half century, we must foster an environment wherein entrepreneurship can continue to flourish freely. Entrepreneurship remains essential to the future development of F1.

"I passionately believe that the most glorious chapters of Formula 1 are yet to come, as long as we maintain systems which encourage competitive racing via regulatory stability, and foster entrepreneurial achievement yet reflect the world's changing environment in its priorities. Then the future of Formula 1 can be every bit as glorious as we want it to be."

More races will necessarily cut down on testing time, meaning there will be less scope for teams to develop new technologies. That in turn will logically reduce the sport's spiralling costs - something a large majority within the paddock are adamant is imperative - and by the same token potentially improve the racing spectacle.

"If we can frame those rules in such a way as to keep costs in check, or even reduce costs, so much the better," Dennis is quoted as having told the forum by Fox Sports. "Every time the rules are changed, the result is almost always a cost increase and, because the smaller teams are perhaps less able to meet those cost increases, they may not respond as effectively to a rule change as their more affluent competitors.

"We must change the rules because the world is changing, but because we also need regulatory stability, our rule changes must be evolutionary, not revolutionary."

There are 18 grands prix on the 2008 F1 calendar - one more than last year - with the Valencia street outing and Singapore night-time race the two new additions, and the US Grand Prix disappearing from the schedule. The sport's commercial supremo Ecclestone has frequently expressed his desire to see more racing and less testing.

Aside from Abu Dhabi's entrance onto the scene in 2009, South Korea and India are set to join the circus in 2010, with Russia, Dubai and Qatar amongst others all offering mega bucks for the prestige of hosting a grand prix and firmly on the 77-year-old's radar for the years to come. The record stands at 19 races in 2005, though the suggestions are 20 races could become a feature of the calendar as early as next year.

"I think 20 races is a big number but a sensible number," affirmed Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner. "It's a huge logistical challenge, but the way the teams are working with each other to self-regulate testing, it is possible. For us, the Middle East region is key to our development plan, and it is very important that it has a strong presence on the calendar."

"Twenty is about the right number," agreed Honda CEO Nick Fry. "The balance of traditional circuits in Europe and circuits in new continents is vital. Formula 1 needs to go where the commercial market is, and that market is moving from Europe and North America to the Middle East and Asia."

"We should have 20 races but not more," added Force India MD Colin Kolles. "The future is definitely the Middle East region. There is a lot of investment coming out of this region, and that is what is needed in Formula 1."

Earlier in the week, Prodrive chairman and former Benetton and BAR-Honda boss David Richards underlined his conviction in the importance of the Middle East to F1's future [see separate story - click here].

source: eurosport