A beautiful venue, its remote location and lack of infrastructure has counted
against it, although Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko was adamant
last winter that such concerns were “nonsense, arguing that it “managed well
enough in the 1970s and 1980s”. It hosted its last race in 2003 before Red
Bull revamped it.
The July 6 date has already caused plenty of speculation about what the
knock-on effect might be on the rest of the calendar.
With the governing body ruling out a clash with Le Mans 24 Hours (June 14/15)
from now onwards, there are plenty of races and few spare weekends. Russia
and New Jersey are both due to join the calendar, which could make 22 in
total if all 19 from this season survive.
Added to the return of in-season testing, and winter testing starting earlier
than usual due to the advent of the new 1.6 litre turbo engines, 2014 looks
like being the longest and busiest season in Formula One history.