Twenty races possible?

Theissen said: "From our perspective, a reduction in testing would be very beneficial in terms of cost savings, especially for the small teams. I could imagine doing two more races if we really significantly cut testing during the season...we are spending a lot of resources hiding the show from the spectator, which doesn't really make sense.

"If we go testing three or four times as much as we go to races it is not the right approach," said Theissen, who oversees BMW's partnership with title contenders Williams.

The push for the extra races is coming from commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone who spoke on Friday of his desire to see additional races in the championship.

Ecclestone said: "The way to go is twenty races, no Friday testing, testing on Saturday. The teams might as well get paid for running their cars rather than spending money running around in circles when no-one is watching."

As for fellow BMW WilliamsF1 team member and WilliamsF1 boss Sir Frank Williams had indicated that he would consider a reduction in testing. Williams said: "Speaking on our side, it is a lot more work for people who are almost exhausted by October. I think most people with the exception possibly of one team are pretty much (ready) to reduce testing.

"Twenty races? at the end of the day it gets down to if it is affordable and what the recompenses are and where they are, Europe or out."