Mercedes boss says traditional venues cannot be cast aside
Last Updated: October 28, 2011 1:51pm
Ross Brawn: Says 20 races is the maximum
Mercedes boss Ross Brawn has urged Bernie Ecclestone not to lose sight of Formula One's heritage as the sport heads to more new territories.
Come 2014, Ecclestone will realise his dream of turning F1 into a truly global sport as the last of the great untapped markets, Russia, finally stages a grand prix.
The F1 roadshow is currently making its debut in India, while next season it will again try to crack the United States.
This week a second race in the USA - on a street circuit in New Jersey - was announced for 2013, adding pressure on an already-congested calendar.
Next season a record 20 races are scheduled, dependent on whether Bahrain has overcome its issues and whether South Korea can find the money to continue as a host.
But with the races in New Jersey and Russia, and further events being discussed for Argentina, Mexico and South Africa, it then becomes a question of which grands prix would be axed.
Iconic
"There are provisions within the Concorde Agreement for teams to agree additional races, particularly those outside of Europe," said Brawn.
"The teams, within reason, are keen to have extra races especially when they are as important as coming here to India or in Russia or an extra race in North America.
"So we are very supportive of those races and it's great Bernie has achieved them."
However, he warned: "What we don't want is to lose important races, and we can all sit here and debate which ones are important, but we don't want to lose the iconic and historic heritage races.
"They are what makes Formula One so attractive for countries like India, to be part of that collection of races, to be a race like Monaco, Silverstone and Monza.
"If we lose those heritage races, those important historic races, then I think Formula One itself becomes less attractive."
Not for the first time Brawn has also reiterated the fact 20 races is the limit, otherwise there is too much strain on manpower.
"We have to make sure we can all manage them, can all afford them and structure ourselves to deal with them," added Brawn.
"The calendar is creaking a bit with 20 races in terms of the team, with three pairs of back-to-back races at the end of next year that means our staff are away for pretty long chunks of time.
"We need to look at how teams are going to be structured to cope with the extra number of races."
Credit: Sky Sports (www.skysports.com)
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