Pirelli would be open to a Formula 1 calendar with more than 20 races according to Paul Hembery, but he warns the venues must be sustainable.
With news that Mexico will join the 2015 calendar, then Azerbaijan in 2016 and quite possibly the on/off New Jersey race, the calendar is set to surpass the 20 race limit.
Whilst the teams have some concerns, Hembery says these can be overcome and with the benefit of additional exposure, additional races would be welcomed by Pirelli.
“It’s [the problem] purely logistics,” he said. “At the end of the day the more races you have the more value you create – ultimately – because you get more visibility. So we’re not against doing more races, it just creates for everybody a practical human problem because people struggle with their natural lives so you might have to double up in some areas and create a duplication of roles, but you live with it.
“We’re not against doing more races, that’s for sure,” Crash.net quote him as saying.
Hembery is however keen to see new races located where fans are guaranteed in order to avoid scenarios like Korea and India where a lack of support has seen the races dropped after just a few years.
“Personally I think if you have a doubt whether the fans will come then you have to go very close to the city centres or use street circuits because then they can’t avoid you; you have to watch it because it’s going to ruin your drive to work!
“We need to look very carefully at how these new events are going to be sustainable going forward because I don’t think it benefits anyone coming along for a couple of years and then disappearing. You need to build up some momentum and understand why if maybe the public isn’t interested what needs to change to get them interested.”
