Ecclestone looking to drop 'one or two' European races

Bernie Ecclestone is apparently mulling a plan to drop a few European races from next's years' F1 calendar, according to Russian media outlet RBC.

The  news source quoted Formula 1's supremo saying that next year's calendar could see a reduction in the number of races to 18 from its current schedule of 21.

"That is exactly what will happen -- one or two countries will be excluded, definitely," Ecclestone said.

" I can't say which ones, but the new countries will be from a different part of the world. Not from Europe. Formula 1 is not the European championship, this is the world championship."

Recently, F1 has progressively departed from the European continent, with France no longer holding a race contract and Germany dealing with its own difficulties with keeping its race alive, while Italy's future is perhaps also in jeopardy, as Ecclestone invested in the Middle-East and reinforced F1's presence in Asia.

Unfortunately, franchises acquired in those zones have also struggled to remain in the supremo's good graces, with Korea, India and Turkey all failing to assure the durability of their events.

"It's not my fault," Ecclestone concluded. "I don't organise the races. It's their task to attract the fans."

Silbermann says... Referendum

Technical analysis - Baku

Scene at the Grand Prix of Europe

Grand Prix of Europe - Driver ratings

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter