GreenBkk.com Formula 1 | Formula 1 teams want rethink on revised 2012 calendar

Formula 1 teams want rethink on revised 2012 calendar

By Jonathan Noble

Saturday, July 30th 2011, 17:46 GMT

Formula 1 teams are set to ask Bernie Ecclestone to rethink his plans for the 2012 calendar amid fears that the end of season run of races will prove a logistical nightmare.

As AUTOSPORT exclusively revealed earlier this weekend, Ecclestone has undertaken a major reshuffle of the original schedule that was published by the FIA in June.

As well as Bahrain moving to the tail end of the season and Turkey being dropped, the United States Grand Prix in Austin is set to become the penultimate round of the season as part of a back-to-back with Brazil.

Ecclestone submitted his idea for the calendar to the teams ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix to get their feedback, and it understood there is some concern about the final flyaway portion of the calendar.

In particular, the teams are worried about there being seven races at the end of the season in just 10 weekends - with the back-to-back events in Japan/Korea, Abu Dhabi/Bahrain and the United States/Brazil all taking place in quick succession on different continents.

Renault team principal Eric Boullier has revealed that teams now plan to ask Ecclestone to reconsider the plans to make it easier for the teams

"We plan actually to ask for a rethink for the logistics," he told AUTOSPORT. "It is to make it a little bit easier for the task force and a bit cheaper by way of moving logistics differently."

Boullier declined to talk about the details of what the teams want to see, but said that they had formulated a plan.

"We have a thought between us already and we would like to suggest a couple of ideas," he said. "We are not involved in the final decision of the calendar, but I understand it is not definite so we have room to ask for discussion and to make suggestions."

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh added: "The calendar is tough, but I understand it is going to change again. So, until we have the final calendar, there is no point complaining about a provisional one."

Credit: AUTOSPORT.COM (www.autosport.com)