Ron wants other calendar

McLaren boss, Ron Dennis, has called for a shorter Formula One season to avoid over-exposing the sport. The past 2005 championship featured 19 races, with the same amount scheduled for next year, but Dennis believes 17 races should be the maximum.

Ron Dennis "Just like individuals burn out, the public needs to have a break and then you rebuild expectation. We have football saturation at the moment and we should avoid putting ourselves in the same situation."

The 2006 Formula One season starts in Bahrain on 12 March and ends in Brazil on 22 October. There are no new races after Turkey joined the schedule in 2005 and Bahrain and China made debuts in 2004.

Ron Dennis added there must be three clear months with no races while Italy and Germany should not host two Grands Prix a year.

"There is an argument that says we should be appealing more to those markets that fully embrace motor racing. There is a very strong German market for motor racing so that should justify two German Grands Prix. For me, I think they should be alternated between the Nurburgring and Hockenheim and we should be trying hard to keep the numbers to 16 or 17 races. If you ask me, do I want to race in Italy twice or once in Italy and once in Russia, to me it's a no-brainer. We are in a world championship, we shouldn't be rejecting Russia over having two races in Italy."