Dennis wants fewer races
15/12/2005 Other than the fact that quantity does not necessarily mean quality, the 19-race calendar in 2005, following 18 races in 2004, took a massive toll on the F1 teams and their employees. With the money rolling in from eager promoters and governments, it's understandable that Bernie Ecclestone would like even more races on the calendar, which is one of the reasons he has previously suggested reducing race weekends to two-day events. Speaking at an end-of-season, meet-the-press, get together, McLaren boss, Ron Dennis has admitted that he favours a reduced calendar, feeling that, apart from the toll the heavy schedule has on his employees, F1 is in danger of reaching saturation point, with too much of it on TV, much like football, and that this will cause viewers to switch off. Furthermore, the Englishman believes that it is wrong for Italy and Germany to both host two rounds of the World Championship. "There is an argument that says we should be appealing more to those markets that fully embrace motor racing," he told reporters yesterday. There is a very strong German market for motor racing so that should justify two German Grands Prix. For me, I think they should be alternated between the Nurburgring and Hockenheim and we should be trying hard to keep the numbers to 16 or 17. "Just like individuals burn out, I think the public needs to have a break," he added, "and then you rebuild the expectation of a new world championship. We have football saturation at the moment and we should avoid putting ourselves in the same situation in Formula One." As Ecclestone looks for fresh markets to take F1 into, there are no new hosts coming on board in 2006, after Bahrain and China entered F1 in 2004 and Turkey joined the calendar in 2005. Dennis believes that 'extra' races could be sacrificed to bring new host nations on board. "If you ask me, do I want to race in Italy twice or once in Italy and once in Russia, to me it's a no-brainer," he said. "We are in a world championship, we shouldn't be rejecting Russia over having two races in Italy." |
