Perez Raises Concerns About Exhausting F1 Calendar

Friday, 22 December 2023 at 09:04

Updated at Friday, 22 December 2023 at 09:05

Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez raised concerns about the exhausting Formula One calendar that is set to be even longer in 2024.

The 2023 season included 22 Grand Prix Weekends with six Sprint races, and many drivers and their teams claimed to be very exhausted towards the end of the season.

The problem was not only many race weekends but also the frequency of the weekend and time changes they had to adapt to. Particularly exhausting has been the American triple-header, followed by a doubleheader in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner told media after the Las Vegas Grand Prix everybody on his team was leaving the city "slightly fu***d."

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Mercedes driver George Russell called for a change after the last race of the season when he mentioned many of his mechanics fell ill as they had trouble coping with constant time zone shifts.

Now, the Red Bull's driver Sergio Perez joined in and suggested there needs to be a change going forward. While there is not much that can be changed for 2024, Perez told the media:

"Obviously, it's something that we're going to raise up to try and then see what can be done. Probably now it’s [too] late for next year, but for the year after to really try to maximize it."

The Mexican F1 driver completed 13 seasons in Formula One and he said he has never seen people so exhausted after the final race of the season.

"I never remember seeing people so exhausted at the last race. So I think it's something that we got to be taking it very seriously."

The 2024 season is supposed to have two more Grand Prix weekends and will end with a challenging tripleheader from Las Vegas to Qatar to Abu Dhabi. Perez added:

"It’s important for the sport, for the drivers to obviously keep having these long careers that we've seen. For the staff from the mechanics, we want them to have very long careers as well. So I think it's something we've got to consider."