The Formula One calendar for 2012 might still be revised after it emerged several teams have expressed unease over the number of flyaways - races outside Europe and the USA - with particular concern over the hectic travel needed over back-to-back weekends.
According to a report in Autosport, the the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has written to Bernie Ecclestone and FIA President Jean Todt arguing the schedule was drawn up without adherence to the Concorde Agreement.
Eleven of the 20 grands prix planned for next season are classified as flyaways, with the bulk coming at the start and end of the season. The run-in from September 23 sees races in Singapore, Japan, Korea, India, Abu Dhabi, the USA and Brazil. In one four-weekend period in November there are grands prix on three continents - Asia, North America and then South America.
"There is a process for the validation of the calendar, especially with more flyaways, and we will be involved in this because there is a cost issue," FOTA vice-chairman Eric Boullier told Autosport. "There are different proposals at the moment, but it is not so easy to move one date."
Ecclestone, as forthright as ever, brushed aside the concerns. "They don't have to go if they don't want to," he said, adding that if teams thought the right procedures had not been followed "then they should go to the police … they're lucky we've got races. Otherwise they'd all go out of business."
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