India gets F1 race in record 2011 calendar; no 13th team (Roundup)

Sep 8, 2010, 14:44 GMT

Paris - India is to have its inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in 2011 as part of a record 20-race calendar, the ruling body FIA said on Wednesday.

Next year races will see the same amount of 12 teams as in the current season and drivers can now also face F1 sanctions if they commit serious road driving offences, the FIA World Motor Sport Council decided at its headquarters in Paris.

The Indian race on the currently constructed 5.5-kilometres Jaypee Group Circuit some 50 kilometres from the capital New Delhi, is slated for October 30, 2011, as the 18th season race - pending FIA homologation.

The 2011 campaign season starts again in Bahrain on March 13 and ends in Brazil as in 2008 on November 27. The 2009 and 2010 seasons end in Abu Dhabi, which is now the penultimate race next year.

Never before has F1 seen 20 races in one season, with 19 events in 2005 and 2009 the previous record.

The addition of India brings the number of Asian races to eight as the expansion of the sport on the continent continues. Europe, which used host the majority of GPs in the past, has just one race more with nine.

India is another new market and has made rapid progress in recent years in racing.

The Force India team owned by businessman Vijay Mallya was founded in 2007 from the former Spyker team and the country has produced two F1 drivers in Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok.

The FIA also said that there will be no additional 13th team because 'none of the candidates met the requirements to be granted an entry into the Championship.'

As a result, there will be 12 teams with 24 cars as this year. United States team USF1 were the original 13th team for 2010 but withdrew shortly before the season for financial reasons and was subsequently banned forever from motorsport by FIA.

In another ruling, the FIA also plans to clamp down on its F1 drivers misbehaving on the streets, such as the 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton who was fined in Australia last month for driving a sports car illegally on the streets of Melbourne.

'If an International Super Licence holder is involved in a serious road traffic offence recognised by a national police authority, the FIA, depending on the severity of the case, may issue a warning or refer the matter to the International Disciplinary Tribunal, which may temporarily or indefinitely withdraw the competitor's International Super Licence,' the FIA said.