2024 Season Is Going To Be 'Brutal' Says Villeneuve

Monday, 29 January 2024 at 15:00

general qatar grand prix start redbull rbcp

The 2024 season is set to feature a record-breaking amount of races, and former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve expressed his concerns about the "brutal" year that awaits us.

In 2023, we have seen 22 Grand Prix races (plus six Sprint races) packed into the calendar. While the growing number of races makes the season more entertaining for F1 fans, it is not exactly the same for F1 teams.

The problem is that F1 has to fit all the races into a one-year schedule that needs to include summer and winter breaks. Organizing everything is a very challenging task.

What ends up happening with an increasing amount of races is that we get race weekends stacked on top of each other without a proper break.

Having a race to watch in multiple consecutive weeks is, again, great for all the fans, but F1 teams would ideally need a one-week break between every single race.

Read also

Hamilton Open To Taking Break From F1 With Option Of Comeback

Not to mention the time zone changes and the distances that have to be traveled between some of the races. In relation to the 2024 season, Jacques Villeneuve told Planet F1:

"That’s gonna be brutal. For teams, they find ways to travel. Staff rotations can work but it’s hard on the staff. The timezone is in the wrong direction because you lose time by coming in instead of gaining."

Multiple drivers and team principals mentioned their mechanics were completely exhausted and falling sick at the end of the season 2023. However, the schedule in 2024 is supposed to be even more intense.

"It makes it very hectic to set everything up, set the teams up, catering, and all that. It takes time, and that’s a little bit rough."

The end of the upcoming season will be particularly challenging because of the triple-header at the end of the season. Everyone will have to go from Las Vegas to Qatar and then to Abu Dhabi without a single week of break. Villeneuve added:

"To have three in a row, although Qatar is not far from here, will be very tiring, especially at the end of the year and the season finishing in December. It’s tough for the mechanics as well, not the drivers."