Christian Horner has recently spoken out about Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali’s approach to the number of races on the calendar.
According to the Red Bull Team Principal, Domenicali will “play the same trick every year” by increasing the number of races, which is putting greater demands on the teams and drivers.
The upcoming season will already have a record-breaking 23 races, with an initial plan for 24 before the Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled in April.
To add to this, there will also be six sprints integrated into the campaign. As the number of races continues to grow, it has become a major topic in the sport, with concerns about the effects of the strenuous schedule on the well-being of team members and drivers.
To address these concerns, teams have started to implement staff rotation where possible. This method aims to distribute the workload evenly throughout the season to avoid burnout and maintain the performance of team members.
As the pressure builds, it will be interesting to see how teams adapt to this ever-evolving landscape.
The Red Bull Team Principal revealed the challenges teams face in keeping staple races on the calendar as Formula 1 bosses add new venues each year.
The 49-year-old views the current calendar as insane and would prefer competition for existing places instead of continued expansion. Balancing the demand for more races with team welfare remains a challenge for the sport’s stakeholders.
When asked about his preferred number of races in a season, Horner responded with a chuckle to the Financial Times.“About 18?”
“But the problem is, Stefano turns up and they play the same trick every year and it’s like, ‘Oh, maybe we can’t go to Silverstone or Monza’s looking a bit wobbly’, and so on.
“And so he says: ‘Well, look, we can’t lose Monaco, we can’t lose Monza, we can’t lose Silverstone.’
“And then he’ll say: ‘What about Las Vegas?’ Okay, alright, we’ll go to Vegas. ‘What about Miami?’ Yeah, alright. We’ll go there too. And, you know, they just keep coming up with great venues and great races and it’s difficult to say no.
“But you do reach a point where you wonder where you get saturation and 23 is an insane amount of racing and mileage that we have to cover in a season.
He concluded: “I think it’s better to have competition for the existing venues [rather] than just keep adding more and more because you do get to a point of breaking point, which I don’t feel we’re that far from.”
