More races, more friction in the future for F1

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The new owners of Formula One are planning to have more races and a greater presence in North America, and wouldn't mind revving up the ratings with some extra friction among drivers.

Sean Bratches, the managing director of commercial operations for the Formula One Group - formerly Liberty Media - which took over the running of the sport in January, is already fielding offers from promotors wanting to buy in.

Lewis Hamilton has suggested Miami and Daniel Ricciardo picked Las Vegas as places they'd like to see new races, and Bratches told a news conference Friday that ''there's no dearth of interest in bringing Formula One to circuits, both track and street, around the world.''

Bratches said he'd had a ''number of inquiries from cities, states, municipalities and countries around the world that are interested.''

There are 20 races on the 2017 calendar, starting with the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, and concluding with Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November. The debate over the number and location of races has been frequent over the last decade.

F1 racing returned in 2012 to the United States, where it is held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in October. While the bulk of the races remain in Europe and Asia, there are also GPs in Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

''Our interest is in expanding the number of circuits in that marketplace, leveraging Austin - our incumbent and the benchmark in terms of what we're doing in the States,'' said Bratches, adding there was clear demand for it in North America. ''We're excited about all markets around the world, but the United States is going to be a focus.''

Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Ricciardo, an Australian who finished third on the season standings last year, are among the drivers who'd like to see more than 20 races in the F1 series. Veteran Fernando Alonso also doesn't mind the idea of expansion, although maybe not for a few years.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who has won four world drivers' titles, thinks 16 to 20 would be enough. All agreed that expansion was pointless unless it increases the level of competition. Hamilton and Mercedes dominated the last three seasons, and Red Bull was dominant for the four seasons before that.

There's always been driver tension in F1, usually between teams but also involving teammates vying for championships. Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who edged Hamilton for the title last year and then retired, had an openly strained rivalry at Mercedes since 2013.

That's something former ESPN executive Bratches doesn't mind.

Responding to a question about the drivers being overly-managed by public relations people, Bratches said: ''There's a number of sports where there's big personalities that allow sports to punch above their respective pay grades.''

He said the drivers were a big part of the fan engagement.

''Candidly, I would love it if more of the drivers had big personalities, there was more controversy among the drivers - and you kind of unleash them a little bit,'' he said. ''I think that's good for all of us.''