Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes a 24-race Formula 1 calendar it “on the limit” of what is sustainable – a view shared by Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur.
Heading into the 2023 season finale in Abu Dhabi, plenty of drivers spoke of issues regarding fatigue in what was the conclusion of a then-record 22-race calendar.
With two more events this year, the likes of Max Verstappen and George Russell questioned whether things were being stretched too far for paddock personnel to cope.
Horner, who has stated he will be attending every race in 2024, has admitted that “it’s a brutal year,” when speaking with RaceFans.
“I think it’s something that I’m sure will be on the agenda with Formula 1 and the FIA to talk about how can we make life more bearable for everybody involved,” Horner added.
“It’s a travelling circus, but it’s a global circus and we need to just make sure that we protect that and the people within it.
“Money is a big driver in any commercial sport, but it can’t come at the price of human health and wellbeing. I think we’re right on the limit.”
Vasseur, meanwhile, sees the expansion of the F1 calendar as a positive thing and a sign of the series’ continuing health.
“A couple of years ago we were struggling to find tracks and to find events,” the Frenchman said.
“Today we have a lot of proposals, that we have a situation to do 24 events, and also to be probably a bit selective on the events.
“This year we’ll have the first part of the season in the Far East with Melbourne, Japan and China in a row, so we’ll allow some mechanics and drivers to sometimes stay in this side of the world which will be helpful.
“Then we have to manage properly the team to give them some rest, but I don’t think we have to reduce the number of events.
“We have to work on the calendar, for sure.”
The 2024 calendar kicks off with the Bahrain Grand Prix on February 29-March 2 and concludes with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 6-8.
A greater focus for the coming year has been to focus on regionalisation, grouping events geographically throughout the year.
This has seen Japan move from its traditional slot in the Autumn to become the fourth round of the season on April 5-7, following Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia and preceding the return of the Chinese Grand Prix, which will host one of Sprint races in 2024.
Similarly, Azerbaijan has seen its race move from the Spring to conclude the European leg of the F1 season on September 13-15.
The regionalisation should, in theory, put less of a strain on the travelling members of the F1 paddock as Vasseur indicated in his remarks, but the growth to 24 races means there will be a lot of races in a condensed period of time.
For instance, the conclusion of the 2024 season will be a triple-header of rounds: Las Vegas (November 21-23), Qatar (November 29-December 1) and Abu Dhabi.
