Formula 1's 2018 provisional 21-race calendar which was released on Monday raised a few eyebrows when it revealed a three-race stint over consecutive weekends.
It has now come to light that the French, Austrian and British Grands Prix scheduled on June 24, July 1 and 8 have been compressed in order to avoid a clash with the World Cup final in Russia, F1 CEO Chase Carey justified on Tuesday.
"Every year there is always a unique thing we’re playing around and next year it has got this unique event, the World Cup final," Carey said at an FIA Sport Conference in Geneva.
"So part of the schedule of having three (races) in a row was because we did not think it was ideal for a promoter to have an event (go) head-to-head with the World Cup final."
Carey said that the specifics of the 2018 schedule had been discussed with promoters and teams before the calendar was finalized.
"We made sure with our partners that it was manageable," he added. "I think everybody thought that was manageable and within that schedule (we) did preserve the four-week break in August."
While both China and Singapore are subject to confirmation with the commercial rights holder, Carey played down any concerns associated with the two Asian venues.
"It's just the reality of having agreements that have come up," added the American executive.
"We're negotiating new agreements, we're having good, constructive discussions, and expect to get there.
"We don't expect it to be 19, we expect it to be 21. We wouldn't have put it out if we didn't expect it to be 21, but the reality is we don't have a completed agreement."
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