The 2011 F1 platter adds the twentieth
flavour
Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One supremo, announces a total of twenty races for the upcoming 2011 season. He has recently revealed that the next season’s calendar would see twenty races which he believes is the maximum the sport
could have in a season.
While talking to the media he admitted that they are already a bit over the top for the next season as an ideal season should actually constitute of 16 Grand Prix.
The ongoing season has a total of nineteen races in the calendar, for which many of the teams already believed that it would put too much pressure, physical and mental, on the team as well as on the drivers. The amount of stress
and pressure that this sport of speed and technology exerts on all its partakers is incomparable to any other sport.
Formula One is not very demanding in terms of bodily strength, rather it requires a lot more as well. It deals with huge amounts of money, more than many of the other sports all together require.
Also, in the past few years the sport had been blamed over and over again for adding to global pollution. Very large quantities of fuel and energy are required for its cars and factories and a lot of pollution- of all kinds- is
wielded through the sport.
Above all, with such an extended calendar the teams are unable to get enough time to carry work in their factories like manufacturing of their next season’s car, carrying-on the desired practice and also the routines of the drivers
get very hectic with all the travelling and practices allowing no physical and mental rest.
However, as Ecclestone announced for the twenty race calendar he also vowed that this is the maximum number that would be seen and further additions would not be done.
This season, a total of nineteen races were seen as the new Korean Grand Prix had been added which would host its first race next month. In the 2011 calendar a new round, the Indian Grand Prix had been included which would host its debut race in late October
next season.
The 2009’s schedule had a total of seventeen races. Other than the Korean Grand Prix, the Canadian Grand Prix was also not present last year, which was a very sad thing for the Canadian fans as the place is one of the oldest hosts of the sport.
Well, as Ecclestone announced another race in India, many speculations have spread around telling that the upcoming years would see even more additions to the schedule, however, the F1 boss denied all such gossips confirming that twenty is the limit, which,
he thinks is already more than enough.
While talking to the Times of India he stated, "We really should be at 16, to be honest. Twenty is plenty, that's the limit. No more”.
He jokingly added, “I've been able to squeeze in 20 but I wouldn't want to increase it. There'll be mayhem otherwise".
Another country that Ecclestone is desperate to add in the calendar is The United States of America. It is also one of the old venues of Formula One racing, however, since 2007 no race has been held here.
This year a contract had been signed with Texas to host the next Formula One race in Austin, though previously New York City had been the host of United States Grand Prix. As per the contract the debut race would be held in Austin in 2012.
While talking about this additional race Ecclestone said, "America is a country that should have an F1 race," he went on to say, "We have a race in India and soon we'll have one in the US. It's great".
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