F1 calendar could shrink

Moves are afoot to start chopping down F1's unprecedentedly long grand prix race calendar. Although Bernie Ecclestone is thought keen on adding one more to make twenty, the Concorde Agreement stipulates a maximum of seventeen GP stops. Going beyond 17 requires the agreement of the teams.

''Seventeen is enough,'' said Peter Sauber, boss of F1's most successful independent team. ''All these back to backs are too much for the team.''

The final straw, according to reports, was F1 supremo Ecclestone's intention to stage even more back-to-back races to accommodate the World Cup. ''I'm not sure the public want or need this many races,'' said BAR boss Nick Fry. And Sir Frank Williams remarked: ''The more races there are, the richer Bernie gets, the poorer the teams are.'' GMMf1NET