For Bernie Ecclestone, the current Formula One calendar with soon 24 races is too overloaded, moreover, the former boss also criticises the Americanisation
Even though he admits to having been partly responsible for the development, former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone thinks the ever-growing calendar of the premier class is a mistake: “I think 18 races are enough “
But it was Ecclestone himself who once broke this barrier: back in 2005 he had 19 races held for the first time, before the 20-race mark fell in 2012. “I often thought it was a bit too much,” he admits now. “I moved it from 18 to 20. I don’t want to make excuses, but that was at a time when we were taking it from Europe to the rest of the world.”
But since the Liberty Media takeover, the calendar has grown even further to include a record 24 races in 2024 – too many for Ecclestone. He warns that team employees are the main thing to think about. “With 22 or 23 races, there will be too many divorces,” he fears. “It’s just a question of timing.”
The former Formula One boss is also far from pleased with the nature of the races and believes Formula One has allowed itself to be hijacked a little too much by Netflix and is following their entertainment path a little too closely. At the very least, he considers the races in the USA to be “completely crazy”, as he says.
He uses Miami as an example, which has been criticised this year for its over-Americanised make-up. “The way they put it on was crazy because they were trying to be American and not the way I did it, which is the way Formula 1 is,” he says.
“But maybe they are completely right and I was wrong in trying to let Formula One be more Formula One,” he adds, and can understand the path of the premier class, at least from the point of view of those in charge.
“They can say they are signing long-term contracts and that obviously makes a lot more money for the company they work for,” Ecclestone says. “So what they are doing is 100 per cent economically right for them at the moment.”
But he also says: “I would still stay at 18 prestigious races without any doubt. “