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Sunday, 6th July 2008

The 2009 F1 schedule has been criticised by the sport's team bosses, who question the effect it will have on mechanics and warn of a possible 'burnout' with no time to rest from February to November.

Williams founder and co-owner Frank Williams acknowledged that the extra race would be good news for generating sponsorship revenue, but equally pointed to the greater costs as a result of having to take on more mechanics.

“Perhaps it's a little bit better for the bank balance,” the 66-year-old mused, “but not as much as you might guess.

“Ron Dennis once said several times to Max [Mosley – FIA President] and Bernie [Ecclestone – F1's commercial rights-holder] in particular and eyeball-to-eyeball: ‘The more races you put on, the more we lose.'”

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The top flight has only once before had 19 races in a season – in 2005 – but there is talk of ultimately branching out to a 20-round calendar now that testing opportunities have been significantly cut. South Korea and India are both due to make their grand prix bows in 2010, whilst the US Grand Prix is also keen to make a comeback [see separate story – click here].

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