Brawn Warns Against 18-Race Season

The announcement that Bahrain will join the Formula One calendar in 2004 has led to suggestions that the number of races will increase to 18 - but Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn has warned against it.

The Bahrain race has left Belgian Grand Prix organisers with concerns over the future of their event, especially with anti-tobacco laws set to be introduced in August next year. But with Shanghai, Moscow and Cairo all after a place on the calendar, there has been talk of expanding it to accommodate more races and reducing testing allowances.

Brawn, however, believes that would put too much strain on the teams.

"I think it will be difficult for people to cope and not to burn people out," he said in Italy today. "There is a limit. I think certainly 18 would be more difficult than 17.

"We all spend a lot of time away from home and 17 seems plenty to me. It could reach the point when we have to have two completely separate race teams - and considering the current situation, I do not think that is a sensible solution."

Testing is an optional activity in Formula One and several teams, most noticeably Minardi, avoid it in an effort to reduce the costs so that they can make it to all the races. But any increase in the size of the calendar would give those teams no option but to spend more money to compete in each event and is likely to be strongly protested.