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Red Bull boss Christian Horner admits that the addition of two more races to the already packed 22-race calendar is going to be challenging.
However, a venue like Las Vegas would only add to the growth and spectacle of the sport. Talking to SkyF1, the Red Bull boss said that he'd favour an extra weekend in both Vegas and South Africa:
"When you talk about 24 weekends out of 52 in a year, it does feel too much. But then when you look at the venues that are coming in, you think ‘okay, I’d definitely go an extra weekend for Vegas’. If South Africa was on the calendar, I’d definitely do an extra weekend for that as well."
The Red Bull did stress that changes needed to be made to the calendar to make the race weekends operationally better, with China set to return.
“China might be coming back. It’s such an important market and I think they are working hard to make the weekends shorter and operationally more bearable for the teams and the travelling staff. It will need that combination, but it’s right on the limit.”
Horner also weighed in on the debate of the addition of another F1 team - Andretti - to the sport.
The Red Bull boss said that having more seats is always a good thing in the sport, but the problem comes up in the economics. Another team means the pie would have to be cut between not 10 but 11 teams, so for smaller teams, that could eat into a chunk of their budget.
Talking about Andretti coming to the sport, Horner said:
“I think, if you remove the economics, then to have 24 cars on the grid is a good thing. And I think it would see more young drivers that are struggling to make it in (at present), it would see them getting in. The problem is always going to be, how do you address the finances, because by bringing two more teams in, you just dilute the pot for the 10 that are there, and there is no relegation or promotion system.
It's up to the promotor Stefano Domenicali to justify addition of small teams - Red Bull boss Christian Horner
The Red Bull boss said that at the end of the day, if Andretti has to join F1, it's going to come down to F1 head Stefano Domenicali. He has to convince the teams that it would be good for the sport's future.
Horner said:
“So, it is going to be something that the promotor, Stefano, is going to have to justify particularly to the smaller teams. If they are going to have to give up five, 10, or 15 million dollars for the sake of another entry coming in, why would they do that? Like all things, the commercials will drive it."
He added:
“If you look at it from an idealistic point of view, I’d fully support 12 teams. But when you look at the numbers and what it is going to cost each team individually, that is where it falls over.”
With Andretti facing opposition from both Red Bull and Mercedes, it's starting to look more and more unlikely that F1 could have the American team as the 11th team in the grid any time soon.
