Martin Brundle on the 2014 F1 calendar and the scheduling dilemmas it creates

Having announced a draft version a couple of months ago, the FIA is set to finalise the 2014 calendar following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council this week.

You described the presence of Australia and China, for example, as standalone races as being 'painful'...
MB: "I just think that, logistically, it makes an awful lot of sense to do an Australia-Malaysia. It's a complete no-brainer. You're flying overhead almost; to be testing in Bahrain, and then either come home or tread water out there before heading off again... "Next year's schedule is very expensive, which is surprising given that they're trying to save money. But with the rule changes and threat of unreliability, they might welcome the breathing space to get things sorted out." The Abu Dhabi GP looks like it's being moved to become the last race. Would they have paid a premium for that particular honour? They staged the season finale in 2010...
MB: "They did. I think they might have used it in the negotiating process. But the other thing is the TV schedule: if the World Championship's won in the United States or Brazil, it gives you a much bigger audience in Europe. To an extent, the same would apply to Abu Dhabi with the time difference." It looks like the three provisional races won't survive the cut. Is that a surprise? It seems as though Korea has always been clinging by its fingertips...
MB: "It would be a pleasant surprise because none of us really want to go back there. I think what's surprising and disappointing is that there's no India on there because I think that's a key race for Formula 1. But I know they've had a few tax and logistic issues there and I think the system in India made it nearly impossible. "I thought Mexico might go ahead. It seemed like New Jersey, despite all the positive noises, was never going to go ahead." Is that because of money - the race sanctioning fee they have to pay?
MB: "No, I think it's just creating the downtown track." Is that the same with Mexico? That track (Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez) used to host F1, but not for some time and the bar in terms of standards has been raised in the last 20-odd years...
MB: "Yes, they've already got a venue but there's more work to do than was first thought. The track needed resurfacing, the kerbs replacing and run-off areas added - so many things. I doubt they had time to do it. "I think Bernie's always trying to stretch it a little bit. Personally, I think 19 races is plenty; I think it's too many almost. 22 would have been a nightmare, frankly." There was that Monaco, New Jersey, Canada triple-header wasn't there? The teams doubted whether that was even possible...
MB: "Bernie's always trying to stretch the teams a little bit further and make the numbers work a bit better. And obviously he's always waiting for certain things to fall into place and people to send the money and what have you. So he needs a bit of headroom on that. "I was pretty convinced we were going to end up with 20. But I'd be pleased with 19 because I think we're bordering on too much grand prix racing. It should be a festival, a celebration. There's a lot of football matches on every weekend but that's a tribal thing: you support Manchester United or Chelsea. "I think a lot of people support F1 with a preferred team but they support the sport." Who's where in 2014: The driver line-ups and engine deals for next season