18 races?
From the GDN...........
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But following the announcement on Saturday that Bahrain had landed the Formula One deal, all attention was focused on the new course and what it would mean to the international racing community.
But questions still remain over whether it will become the 18th destination on the Formula One calendar, or whether it will replace an already established race.
"I think there is a strong possibility of 18 races," said British American Racing (BAR) team principal David Richards at the Italian Grand Prix yesterday.
"The issue is getting value and if the teams are rewarded for going to the extra race, because it clearly costs a lot of money to go to extra events," he told Reuters news agency.
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Guess this will be the interesting bit of the debate. Bear in mind that Bernie is very p***ed off with the state of some of the facilities in Europe - particularly ones that haven't been upgraded for yonks. That's why Silverstone was so keen to get its access road. New, purpose-built circuits such as Sepang, the A1 Ring and in the future, Bahrain, are seen as Bernie's vision of an ever more high-yield Formula 1 - no more fiddling about behind the garages etc.