Formula 1 listens to the teams: 'No 25 races we talked about'

The Formula 1 calendar is getting fuller and fuller every year, but that is about to end. Where the top of F1 first talked about 25 races in one year, Stefano Domenicali now wants to stick to 23 races in one season.

Maximum calendar of 23 races

Under Bernie Ecclestone the F1 calendar had already grown nicely, but the American owners who took over from the Brit are clearly aiming for a full calendar. Organizing 25 races was declared as an objective, but the management is now going back on that. At Sport Bild Domenicali is now talking about 23 races.

''I would like to leave it at 23 races, and not 25, which was once talked about. We have applications from Africa, we are talking to South Africa, North Africa, plus one or two races in the Far East, like Korea. I can imagine about a third of the races in Europe, the rest around the world. We'll start in Bahrain in 2022,'' the Formula One CEO said.

F1 to the desert

With many races in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, the question of human rights in countries like that also comes up. Why do they race in such a country, while F1 also has the campaign 'We race as one'. Aren't those two conflicting points of view?

''No, not at all. The opposite is my argument to all critics! We as Formula One are in the spotlight so much worldwide, and so are the Saudis, that we can investigate and prove that they are ready for a rethink. We can help to make it faster,'' Domenicali concluded.