Dubai: What should an ideal F1 racing calendar look like?
Eddie Jordan — who founded and owned Jordan Grand Prix, a F1 constructor team that operated from 1991 to as recently as 2005 — has his take on what he sees as a realistic schedule, given the growing number of races on the agenda.
“I am an old traditionalist and to me the ones that stand out are Spa [Belgian Grand Prix], Monza [Italian Grand Prix], Silverstone [British Grand Prix] and Monaco [Monaco Grand Prix]. These four are sensational. Then there is Abu Dhabi as the season ender, and then obviously Canada and Melbourne,” Jordan told Gulf News.
“I think races like Abu Dhabi and Melbourne have stood the test of time without even having their own drivers. These two races have grown and become extremely important on the calendar. I think Bahrain at the beginning of the season is also very strong.”
Jordan was not too convinced if places like Mexico and even Brazil ought to continue being on the calendar. “After [Sergio] Perez, the Mexican market has not been as it was. And then there is Brazil without any driver and hence, it is not the same race any more.
“I don’t want to be critical of anyone in F1. Whoever took over from Bernie [Ecclestone], it was always going to be a difficult task because Bernie was a fantastic visionary. He could see that when he needed to bring races to the Middle East, he brought them. When he wanted to go to China, he went there. When it was needed to go to India at that time, he did so. That didn’t work out, so he moved on. Obviously, the same thing applies to South America. As far as I am concerned, Bernie was an enigma. He was a very special person.
“So for Liberty to match this is always going to be a huge task. I still think they need a little bit of time. I’m just critical of why we need to have so many races on the calendar. It’s just an awful lot and I am just of the opinion that they could rather have 16 or 18 sensational races rather than 21 that make up the numbers for the television. I am more interested in the quality than the quantity.”
