Formula 1 | New crazy idea “Made in Liberty Media”: abolish Friday free practice for a greater number of races on the calendar

F1 owner Liberty is considering changing the traditional running of the race weekend. In Austin, pre-race procedures were suddenly changed when the pit lane opened early to allow legendary commentator Michael Buffer to announce the drivers in Indy 500 style.

Not only that, Usain Bolt livened up the waving of the green flag.“We want Formula One to overcome the barrier between sport and entertainment” said Sean Bratches, Libert's chief commercial officer. Journalist Christian Sylt quoted sports chief Ross Brown as saying Friday's practice session could be cut in future, making room for more races on the calendar.

“One of the things we are doing is studying the race weekend format to understand if we need to change anything to make it logistically simpler for the teams and to do more races.” Brawn added.

German newspaper Bild reports that another idea under discussion would involve a change to the traditional grid formation. The news says that the grid could in future be alternated between two and three cars, which would increase competition and the risk of accidents. “We're looking for new ways to bring more to fans” said Chase Carey, the executive director of F1.