By alley - Jun 19, 2017, 10:19 AM ET

Steiner - 25 F1 races achievable for teams

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes the Formula 1 teams could handle a calendar expansion to contain 25 races if required.

New F1 owners Liberty Media have voiced a desire to add more destination cities to the calendar, with 25 races per season being suggested as a potential target. Following criticism of the idea from Fernando Alonso – who said he would quit if F1 introduced so many races – F1 principals

Chase Carey and Sean Bratches said in Canada that any changes will be made over a long period

and with full consultation to all stakeholders.

On the topic of expanding the calendar, Steiner (pictured) said: "I'm not opposed to a few more races. What I wish is that the races are more bundled – that we stay in one region and are not going back and forth to Asia, where you go back for one week and then back the next. How big the area you group together, I don't really know. It needs to be studied how many F1 races an area can take.

"For instance, I think it would be difficult to have a race in Abu Dhabi and then another one the next week in Bahrain, because we are very close together there. But a few more races, if it is well organized, will not be that much more time away for the teams. In general, I have nothing against getting up to 25 races."

Highlighting South Africa as a country he would like to see F1 returning to race, Steiner believes a bigger calendar would require teams to recruit extra staff, but doesn't see that as a major problem.

"We just need to plan and maybe relieve some people. Maybe not all the people will want to do 25 events, but I think it can all be managed and if we do it cleverly, it is not so much more. For sure, there is more cost involved because you travel more. You need more car parts because you run more. But, in general, if we've got enough time to get prepared properly, we always find a way to make things work."

At present the 2018 calendar will match the highest number of races seen in an F1 season, with the loss of the Malaysian Grand Prix offset by the return of races in France and Germany that will result in 21 rounds next season.