December 4 ruled out for new 2011 finale

The teams deem it logistically impossible

By GMM

26 May 2011 - 12:49

December 4 has been ruled out as a potential date for a rescheduled 2011 season finale.

Bernie Ecclestone admitted last weekend that the inaugural Indian grand prix could be moved from October to December to make room for Bahrain to be slotted back into the calendar.

"Yes, we are having a look at it. Everything’s possible," he said in Spain.

But according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, December 4 for India has been deemed "impossible" from a logistical point of view.

That date is just days after Brazil’s Interlagos race, and according to the teams "it is logistically impossible to fly the F1 cargo within days from Sao Paulo to Delhi".

December 11 is the next available Sunday, but that is a full two weeks after the currently scheduled finale in late November. In 2009 and 2010, the calendar concluded in early and mid-November.

According to Ross Brawn, the trend for ever-longer F1 calendars risks alienating the sport’s hard-working staff.

"We won’t keep the people," he is quoted by the Telegraph. "They will get fed up. Their families will get fed up and it will all prove to be too much.

"We have to think about it very carefully because we are reaching a limit on what we can subject our people to," added Brawn.

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