For the most part, in recent years the F1 calendar has been pretty much set in stone; starting off in Australia followed by a few races more races in the east, then back to Europe before heading across the Atlantic and then finally Abu Dhabi (groan).

However, all that may change as Formulas One Management, under its new ownership, seeks to build the sport.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, FOM's commercial boss, Sean Bratches, revealed that he is seeking to group events together into regions rather than continuing the current practice of zig-zagging the globe.

"We'd like to create a balance between Europe, the Americas and Asia," he said. "In a perfect world we'd like to have all the races take place in a region and then move to the next region and then the next.

"Obviously, (the pluses are) efficiencies from a team standpoint in terms of moving this circus around the world, but also from navigating fans.

"So telling fans 'for the next two-and-a-half months, you're going to have to get up early to watch the grands prix, and then the next two-and-a-half are going to be at midday, and the next will be at night'. We think that's really important."

While giving nothing away in terms of new additions to the calendar, or even returning to previous tracks, he was giving little away, however he did echo Chase Carey's vision of turning Grands Prix into Super Bowl-style week long events, "massive global events that engage fans".

"We want to play a bit more offence going forward and identify cities around the world where we can have more city circuits as opposed to traditional tracks," he said.

"We still want a balance," he added. We want city centres that have massive fan audiences to drive interest in the tracks and attendance in the tracks. We want promoters that understand the art of promotion, which is an art in terms of elevating the story and putting the fans in seats and creating experiences that are unique.

"We're going to partner with them on that so I'm optimistic about that side of our business."

Amidst the talk of keeping Silverstone on the calendar and returning to other classic tracks, Bratches was asked if this would mean lowering race hosting fees. "We're a business," he replied.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Uffen, 04/05/2017 14:51

"Another wrong turn for Liberty. If they take it, that is. I was extremely distressed by all the ooohs and aaahs over racing at night (Singapore). All this told me was that the actual racing must be a pretty pale spectacle if doing it under lights made folks smile. A hotel with twinkly lights!! Wow! F1 is great!

What's next? Lady Gaga in a W08 vs Taylor Swift in a FS70-H for three laps? "

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2. Posted by Hardliner, 03/05/2017 11:02

"Pass the sick-bag Alice. Better still, get Kim Jong-Un to bomb this idiot back into organising rodeos in Texas. A super-bowl weekend FFS, with boring PC crooners, razzamatazz, dancing girls, fireworks, ice cream; lord save us from ****ing Americans........ WE WANT FAST CARS, WHEEL TO WHEEL RACING, FREE-TO-AIR. WE'D BE HAPPY WITH LESS RACES, BUT THEY HAVE TO BE INTERESTING AND ON CLASSIC CIRCUITS. AND WE DON'T GIVE A FLYING FART ABOUT THE REST OF THE WEEKEND, WE HAVE OTHER LIVES TO LIVE, LAWNS TO MOW, BOATS TO SAIL. Grrrrrrrrr I knew this would happen, and Brawn is powerless to stop it"

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3. Posted by mickl, 02/05/2017 11:29

"The superbowl is a week long event because it only happens once a year. Grand Prix are practically every other week when the season is going so making every one of them a week long affair kind of dilutes the focus.

I do agree however with lumping races into regions as this would help transportation costs. The core of the team personnel may return to base between most races but the race equipment and cars are usually sent ahead with new/replacement parts shipped out from base as needed."

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4. Posted by GrahamG, 02/05/2017 9:24

"Difficult to believe someone has made a sensible suggestion. Grouping events together in a regional manner will drastically reduce transport costs (which probably make nonsense of any "wunderbar" claims about engine efficiency and will raise enthusiasm in the region because the circus is not here today, gone tomorrow."

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5. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 02/05/2017 8:50

"I guess thats a thumbs up for Las Vegas then!

Also agree with Ro, people will watch no matter where and when it is, if its worth watching, but on the flip side, its surely economic sense on the long distance flyaways, to have them back to back where possible. "

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6. Posted by Ro, 02/05/2017 7:17

"Who is this ***hol* ? Its not the location of the venues that is putting fans off, its the actual Grand Prix spectacle! It matters not a jot about distances, its just the same as before because most (all) teams will return to base after each GP. I also cant see any fan to travel to say 4 Gp's in a trot, unless he/she has just won the lottery ! Sort the spectacle first mate. Thats what the problem is."

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FOM seeking to regionalise Grands Prix

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