Verstappen Gives Verdict On Number Of Races And Potential New Team On Grid

Monday, 08 January 2024 at 06:00

Max Verstappen gave his opinion on two of the most discussed topics of the 2023 season - the number of races in a year and the number of teams on the grid.

In a recent long interview with Auto Motor Sport, Max Verstappen discussed various topics, issues, and challenges that Formula One currently faces.

A few of the biggest topics around F1 are currently Sprint race weekends, the number of race weekends in a year, and whether F1 should.

Verstappen already discussed sprint weekends multiple times, said he didn't like them, and gave reasons why. But now he also shared his short opinion on the number of races on the calendar:

“"Definitely fewer races. We have too many for me. But we are not the ones who decide it. Not even the FIA. But I would always plead for it: fewer races, but more quality."”

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F1's 2024 schedule includes 24 Grand Prix weekends, six of which also include sprint races. This adds up to a total of 30 races in a single season. There has never been more in the history of the sport.

The Red Bull driver's team principal, Christian Horner, recently told the media F1 is right on the limit of preferring money over people's health and well-being at this moment, according to his opinion.

The problem is there are very few breaks between race weekends, a lot of traveling, and frequent time changes, which many people in the paddock had a tough time adjusting to.

In terms of adding an additional team on the grid, Max Verstappen kept his answer even shorter, suggesting he would have no problem with it if it were a competitive team.

“"And the teams? Only if they are of good quality, and not just fill the field."”

One of the concerns expressed by people who opposed the idea of letting Andretti Cadillac compete in F1 was they would not be competitive and would just fill the grid, which is not what F1 needs at the moment.

On the other hand, Andretti Cadillac tried to show they were serious about their entry when Cadillac registered as a power unit manufacturer from 2028 onwards.

The 11th F1 team would, therefore, have its own power units, which would give them a higher chance when going toe-to-toe with teams like Mercedes or Red Bull.

The problem is that F1 leaders don't seem to be interested in letting another team enter the sport and there hasn't been any updates around the topic for quite a while.

It seems Andretti Cadillac couldn't have done anything better, but now, it remains a question whether we will ever see them as the 11th team on the grid.