08/11/2015
NEWS STORY
FIA president Jean Todt has apologised for the 2016 schedule which sees Le Mans classic clash with F1 GP.
The 2016 Le Mans 24 hour race is to be held on 18-19th June, the same weekend that Baku hosts Azerbaijan's maiden Formula One race.
Sceptics, of which there are a few in the sport, suggested that the scheduling clash might be the result of Nico Hulkenberg's appearance in the 2015 Le Mans event, the German winning on his debut.
His success drew the attention of a number of F1 rivals, Fernando Alonso one of several drivers to admit being interested in competing in the classic event.
However, when the 2016 F1 and WEC schedules were published, revealing the date clash, many wondered whether Bernie Ecclestone might have deliberately engineered the dates.
Not so, says Todt.
"Organising the calendar is a very tricky job because you have 21 races in Formula One, 10 races in Formula E, 10 races in World Endurance and 14 rallies," said the FIA president.
"To make one calendar without any conflict is not possible," he insisted. "But for Le Mans, I'm quite confident. The start (of the Baku F1 race) will be at midday and Le Mans will finish at 3pm. Maybe for one or two drivers it does not allow them to do it. I'm sorry to say we cannot do better."
That said, the 2016 calendars have yet to be finalised by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council next month, so Fernando might yet find himself driving a competitive car in 2016.