McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh says that F1 teams would struggle to operate if the caledar spread further than 20 races, suggesting that it was almost getting to the point where teams needed alternate engineering crews.
The Formula One calendar has expanded considerably over recent years, with the 2012 season set to feature some 20 races thanks to the addition of the new US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Both Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt have both suggested that 20 races would be their ideal 'maximum' number of races per season.
But there is no official cap on the number of events, and Ecclestone has already signed deals for a New Jersey GP from 2013 and a Russian GP from 2014.
He has also targeted races in South Africa and Mexico over the next few years.
But Whitmarsh has insisted that it was important that 20 races remained the maximum, suggesting that the sport was at a "tipping point" for tolerable conditions for their staff.
He even suggested that teams would likely have to bring in a NASCAR-style culture of multiple GP weekend crews on rotation should the calendar get any bigger.
"Twenty races and a lot of fly-aways is pretty hard on the team, and we're at the tipping point. We shouldn't have any more than 20," he was quoted as saying by the BBC Sport website.
He added: "We're getting close to the point where you do need to alternate crews, like in NASCAR.
"Obviously, the world championship is important, but every GP as a stand-alone event is very special. I know there is always the chase of money, but 20 is a lot and we're right on the limit of what we should be."
Whitmarsh said that his team could deal with next year's calendar, but pointed out that the long season, beginning in January and February with testing and not ending until late November, was punishing.
"I think we can cope with it [for 2012] but it is very hard because by the time the team strips down and returns after [the season finale in] Brazil, then it will be December.
"In January those same guys will be building the car, and then in February testing it, and then they're into a flog around the world."
He admitted: "It's an incredibly difficult, challenging job for the mechanics, technicians and engineers."
With the New Jersey and Russian races having already signed contracts, existing races would need to be dropped to keep the calendar at 20 races or below.
The two possible victims could be the Bahrain GP, which remains on shaky ground after the 2011 race's cancellation and the continued political issues in the Gulf state, and the Korean GP.
Ecclestone and the Korean GP organisers have both admitted that the future of the race is uncertain, with race officials keen to re-negotiate the cost of their race fees.
But Ecclestone has remained bullish on that issue, saying over the Indian GP weekend: "There are lots of things in life you can't afford, and you don't have to have them."
The Korean GP only joined the schedule in 2010 after signing a ten-year deal with Ecclestone, but the 2011 race witnessed a drop in spectator numbers and saw little progress having been made on track developments.
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