Abu Dhabi: Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have said they welcome new additions to the championship calendar but hope the series maintains its heritage on the sidelines of the seventh Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Their comments come after the introduction of three new tracks in three years; last year Sochi, Russia was added to the schedule, this year it was Mexico and next year it will be Baku, Azerbaijan.

However, these additions to the now 21-race season have come at the expense of more traditional tracks in Europe like Imola, Magny Cours, Istanbul and Valencia.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t change anything for us,” said McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. “Going to some of the circuits that we raced on all our careers, like Imola, Magny Cours or Istanbul — they are nice tracks and there is a nice tradition there so you enjoy racing at those circuits.

“But when you go to new countries, you open the sport up to new people and to new generations, so it’s also quite a good feeling.

“We are travelling a little bit more. When I started some years ago (with Minardi in 2001), there were 16 races; now next year, they have planned 21 and most of them out of Europe, so it’s definitely more demanding in terms of travelling and preparing the championship but, it’s the direction that the sport chooses and there is the advantage of opening up Formula One to new countries and this is also good news, I think,” added the 34-year-old Spaniard, who won back-to-back world titles in 2005 and 2006.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton agreed with Alonso but said he hoped some balance could be maintained between old and new circuits.

“It’s good to go to different countries to spread the word of Formula One and give them the experience and gain new followers for the sport,” said 30-year-old British three-time world champion.

“Those tracks mentioned, apart from Imola, were not particularly spectacular tracks anyway. But for sure it would be kind of good to keep the balance of the real classic circuits rather than just a bunch of new circuits because the new circuits are generally not as good as the old circuits, they don’t carry the same history or heritage and I think it’s important that we keep really close to the heritage of Formula One which is those old, historic circuits.”