Formula 1 drivers have reasserted calls for quality over quantity on the sport’s calendar with some branding the impending 24 race season ‘well over the limit’.
The upcoming 2024 F1 season boasts a record-breaking calendar with 24 grands prix as the sport continues to capitalise on the popularity boom seen since Liberty Media’s 2017 takeover.
The calendar expansion has seen the sport make its mark in new locations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar and three events in the United States following the addition of races in Miami and Las Vegas.
Many drivers and teams believe that the extensive calendar is unsustainable for themselves and team members while some believe further additions will also oversaturate the public.
With Liberty Media eyeing 25 races a year, and possibly more in the near future, drivers were asked by Motorsport Week where the limit is and whether there comes a point where teams will need to rotate drivers and team members to combat exhaustion.
“Well, I feel already that we’re way over the limit of races,” said reigning champion Max Verstappen. “So for me personally, yeah, I know I’m of course still very young, but I also know that I’m not doing this for another 10 years.
“I think it’s about the quality over quantity that we have to look at as well. And yeah, from my side, I know, and I’ve said it before, this is not sustainable.
“I love racing a lot and I do it a lot also outside of F1. But at one point you, you start looking into the quality of life and how much you are away for doing a sport that you love.
“But at one point I prefer probably to just be at home and focus on other projects,” Verstappen added. “Because this is crazy, you know how much you have to do for it. And I love it. Now it’s not a problem. But I know that in a couple of years time, it’s very different.
“We need to look into that. Because I think if you have to start rotating drivers it’s a bit crazy. But at the end of the day, of course, it’s up to Formula One, you know what they want to do with their sport.
“But if you know people in the sport start shortening their careers because it’s too much. I think that’s a bit of a shame. So hopefully of course we can have a look at that for the future.”
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz shared the same view, saying: “I think we’re already at the limit of the number of races that the personnel, drivers, F1, people in F1, journalists, etc. can take during a year if you want to have a family back home to go and see and to keep in touch with your home.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s family, if it’s your dog or whatever, I think it’s just on the limit of being a bit too much and I really hope it just doesn’t go much higher than 24 because if not I think it’s going to be very tricky for everyone.
“I think Formula One is risking becoming too constant, having one race every weekend and losing a bit the appetite of everyone switching on the TV to watch F1, and I think F1 needs to remain exclusive.
“It needs to remain a sport where everyone is looking forward for that race to switch on and not something that you can get used to just by switching on the TV like a regular [football] league match every weekend. If we’ve got to that point where we even need to rotate drivers, we’ve gone too far. And I think we are already pretty close to that limit.”
42-year-old Fernando Alonso has seen the calendar grow from 17 races in his 2001 debut season to the current figure of 24 believes that the trend is detrimental to the sport.
“I think we are well over the limit. I agree with all the comments. I started and we had [17] races. Then it was 18 at some point. And then I think when Liberty came, it was like a message that we had 2021 season and that was absolutely the limit, 20 races.
“And now we are in up to 24. And yeah, this is not sustainable for the future, I think for anyone.
“Drivers, even the world champion thinks that this is a little bit long the season. Imagine for the rest of us, you know, that we go to the races in the second half for nothing because, I mean, there is no incentive to fight for anything. So I think, or someone understands this, so yeah, it’s going to be detrimental for the sport.”
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