F1 should brace for 20-race calendar

UPDATE Here is the full transcript of the Q&A session with Max Mosley as provided by the FIA.

11/16/06 (GMM) F1's annual calendar could expand to twenty races in the near future but Europe should brace for more grand prix losses, FIA president Max Mosley warned this week.

"There are still a disproportionate number of races in Europe," the 66-year-old said Wednesday at the BMW Research Centre in Munich.

With Imola and the Nurburgring disappearing from the 2007 schedule, and Silverstone and Magny Cours clinging to their own established spots, Mosley agreed that reducing F1's focus on Europe is a growing 'trend'.

He added: "We are out of balance. Places like India, China, Russia, South America, Central America — they are all very important markets."

The existing Concorde Agreement contains a clause whereby the author of the F1 calendar – Bernie Ecclestone – cannot cancel a so-called 'traditional' European race without the FIA's consent.

"(So) the ultimate sacrifice may have to be made by the teams having twenty races," Mosley suggested, conceding that arguably the biggest market for the manufacturers is Europe.

Moreover, in the 2008 regulations, the maximum number of races per year has been lifted from 17 to twenty.