Bernie Ecclestone's plan to have 20 races per season failed to come to fruition last year. There are again 20 events in this year's calendar but, as Dieter Rencken explains, the F1 supremo's hopes may be dashed again

Much has been made of Bernie Ecclestone's ambitions to increase the Formula 1 calendar to 20 (or even more) rounds. The 81-year-old almost managed the feat last season, being scuppered only by the Arab Spring, which eventually devastated Bahrain – the first Middle Eastern country to fall prey to the lure of F1 – and thus it was back to 19 despite rather zealous attempts at accommodating the desert kingdom.

Now, though, it appears the magic number may once again not be reached, for dark clouds are already gathering above F1 even before a single new car has been launched, or a test session been run.

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