The 2014 season cut short by New Jersey and Mexico?
As the Formula One Circus was heading towards a record 2014 season with 22 Grand Prix to run, the calendar could ultimately be reduced by two events: Mexico and New Jersey, as Bernie Ecclestone suggested in Abu Dhabi.
On the first draft of the 2014 F1 calendar unveiled a few weeks ago, 22 Grand Prix were planned for next year, with four races still awaiting confirmation: South Korea, New Jersey, Russia, and Mexico.
The teams have always advocated for a maximum of 20 races per season, and that might finally be the case next year, according to Bernie Ecclestone, who revealed in Abu Dhabi that Mexico and New Jersey were on the chopping block for next year.
With the arrival of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Gutiérrez in F1 and the strong performances of the former, Mexico has been regularly mentioned as a candidate for a return to the F1 calendar, and this was to involve a renovation of the Autodrome Hermanos Rodriguez, including the construction of a new paddock.
When asked about the possibility of seeing F1 races in Mexico, Ecclestone replied, as quoted by Reuters: “Clearly no” before correcting himself: “Probably not.”
As for New Jersey – which should have appeared for the first time on the calendar and was postponed to 2014 – things are not improving because Ecclestone had hinted that the race would not take place in 2014 but it was indeed present on the calendar published following the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
But in Abu Dhabi, the FOM boss reiterated his concerns about New Jersey, as quoted by Reuters: « I doubt that [the Grand Prix] will actually take place. It is not yet defined whether it will happen or not, but I doubt it. »
As F1 was heading towards a record season of 22 Grand Prix races, this figure could ultimately decrease to 20 races, the same as in 2012.
