F1 cannot neglect the human cost of the source calendar

F1 will announce its calendar for the next season in the coming week ahead of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council meeting, with an expected schedule of 23 races.

F1 CEO and President Stefano Domenicali has already confirmed plans for a 23-race season which, while ending earlier than 2021, will feature the most races in F1 history.

It has raised concerns about the pressure on F1 staff traveling to every single race and the sacrifices involved, especially those needed on the track beyond the typical four-day race weekend.

When asked by Autosport about the stress that a 23-race calendar could bring to the people, the four-time world champion and current Aston Martin driver Vettel said that this was already an “immense task” for the employees of the series have.

“We must not neglect that we are a group of people and people who travel around the world,” said Vettel.

“You can do the numbers. If we have 52 weekends a year, we do 23 of them as races and [there are] a few months of the year when we can’t hold races in most parts of the world, that is of course a very intense season.

“The goal should be [that] We have a sustainable way of running our season, not only for our environment but also with human resources in mind.

“With so many people involved, the weekends are a lot longer than the Saturday-Sundays we see on TV. I think drivers, we are on the happiest end.

Vettel thought it was important for Formula 1 to “hold its season so that these people can lead a normal life outside of their jobs”.

He added: “Most of them, be they engineers or mechanics, people on the team, they have families or children they want to look after.

“So we have to be very careful where we want to place our interests.”

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo echoed Vettel’s thoughts, believing it was important that teams stay close together to keep each other happy when the going gets tough.

“It’s really important for the team to have close relationships with other team members,” said Ricciardo.

“[We’re] away from families for long periods of time, especially in the triple header games. So you have to rely on your teammates to help you if you are down a little or miss your home or whatever it is.

“I really hope that next year the world will open up more and we can interact more with the team. It’s not just on the line, but [we want to] do a couple of events, make a couple of dinners and I think the social life outside of the paddock on a race weekend also helps break up the weekend.

“I think this is an important time to relax and just get rid of the stress of travel and homesickness or whatever.”