Maintain balance between the old and new race tracks

Abu Dhabi - This year saw the return of Mexico after 1992, while last season, Russia made a comeback with a race at Sochi.

 As Formula One enters unchartered territory every year, with some old race tracks giving way to new venues, the drivers said that it was good to spread the sport in these new countries but added that it was vital to maintain a balance between the new and old, especially those which have history or heritage behind it.
This year saw the return of Mexico after 1992, while last season, Russia made a comeback with a race at Sochi.
Next year, the European Grand Prix will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, with the race pencilled in for June. Next season will also see an extended calendar with 21 races.
Meanwhile, traditional tracks such as Imola, Magny-Cours, Valencia and Istanbul Park have gone off the calendar.
And three top drivers - triple world champion Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Honda's Fernando Alonso, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen - who have raced on the old and continue to race on new tracks said that there should be a balance between new and old race tracks.
"It's good to go to different countries and to spread the word of Formula One, give them the experience and gain new followers for the sport," said Hamilton.
"Apart from Imola, others were not particularly spectacular tracks anyway so for sure it would be kind of good to keep the balance of the real classic circuits rather than just a bunch of new circuits. The new circuits are generally not as good as the old circuits, they don't carry the same history or heritage and I think it's important that we keep really close to the heritage of Formula One which is those old, historic circuits," added the Briton.
Alonso too echoed Hamilton and said that it opens the sport to new people. "At the end of the day it doesn't change anything for us. Going to some of the circuits that we raced on for all our careers, like Imola, Magny Cours, Istanbul - they are nice tracks and there is nice tradition there so you enjoy racing at those circuits," said Alonso.
"When you go to new countries, you open the sport up to new people and to new generations so it's also quite a good feeling. When I started some years ago, there were 16 races; now, next year, they have planned 21 and most of them out of Europe, so it's definitely more demanding in terms of travelling and preparing the championship but as I said, it's the direction that the sport chooses and there is the advantage of opening up Formula One to new countries and this is also good news," added the Spaniard.
Raikkonen said that he preferred the older and traditional circuits a lot more than the new ones.
james@khaleejtimes.com