Formula 1 | Infernal F1 calendar: Vettel and Ricciardo are already worried about their mechanics

Contrary to the promises which had been made, F1 will not give up the triplets of races in the future, even in the event of a calendar “not-covid”. Indeed next year, the calendar will include 23 Grands Prix, a record, with certainly several triple-headers in the program and 7 to 8 Sprint Qualifiers.

Sebastian Vettel is one of the many voices to be alarmed by this infernal calendar: less for him than for his mechanics who will be put to the test and who will not see their family for weeks on end.

“We must not overlook the fact that we are a group of people and human beings traveling around the world. « 

“You can do the math. If we have 52 weekends in the year, we run 23 as races, and there are a few months in the year where we can’t run races in most places in the world, that obviously gives you a very intense season. « 

For Sebastian Vettel, we should take more into account the resources – whether human or environmental – that the schedule puts under pressure or even depletes.

“The goal should be that we have a sustainable way of managing our season, not only for our environment but also for human resources. « 

“If you have that many people involved, the weekends are a lot longer than the Saturday-Sundays we see on TV. The pilots are lucky. The season has to be held in a way that allows these people to have a normal life outside of their work, far from home. « 

“Most of them, whether it’s engineers or mechanics, staff working on the team, they have families or children they want to take care of. So we have to be very careful where we want to place our interests. « 

Ricciardo is also worried

Like Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren is worried about the pace of life of his mechanics – he who has not been to Australia for 2 years, is not unaware of what it means to be away from his family. .

« It is really important for the team to have close relationships with the other members of the team » says Ricciardo in the face of this situation.

« We’re away from our families for long periods of time, especially during the treble of races, so you kind of have to rely on your teammates to help you out if you’re a little down or miss home or whatever. else. « 

“I really hope that next year the world will continue to open up and that we can interact more with the team. It’s not just on the track, but [nous voulons] doing a few events, having a few dinners and having that social life outside the paddock during a race weekend helps take a break too. « 

“It’s an important time to relax and to reduce the stress of travel and homesickness or whatever. «