F1 calendar ’over the limit’ with 24 races - Wolff

As an African GP edges ever nearer, three top Formula 1 personalities insist the calendar must not be expanded beyond its current 24 grands prix.

Max Verstappen served his F-word community service and collected his world championship trophy in Rwanda, where the nation’s president Paul Kagame said he was "happy to formally announce" a bid for a grand prix.

"We want to become the Singapore of Africa," he is quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport. "A big thank you to Stefano Domenicali and the entire team at F1, for the good progress in our discussions so far."

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem agrees: "I feel that Rwanda deserves more. Africa deserves more.

"And look at Rwanda today - safe, nice and hospitable," he added, following concerns about safety in the country and the Marburg virus outbreak.

However, with the calendar and its travelling entourage at breaking point, F1 CEO Domenicali has indicated that a new scheme involving races rotating annual places on the calendars of the future will be necessary.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff agrees that the sport cannot simply keep expanding, even though the Concorde Agreement theoretically allows a maximum of 25 grands prix.

"We’re over the limit," he told the Austrian broadcast ORF.

"People like me travel comfortably, but the mechanics who set up and dismantle the car are flying economy. You can see in people’s faces now - it can’t go on anymore."

GPDA chairman and former F1 driver Alex Wurz agrees: "Personally, I think it’s too much. I would prefer 16 races, simply because of the sporting saturation."

Echoing their views is another Austrian - Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko. When he raced in F1 in the early 70s, there were only about a dozen races.

"I think 24 is absolutely the limit," he said. "We in senior management are privileged, but we have to think about the mechanics.

"I think they also have to coordinate the whole sequence better in order to keep these 24 races on the calendar," Marko, 81, added. "But in my opinion, more than 24 is not possible due to the strain. Unless you start having teams with two separate crews."