Comforting Ailing George Russell, Mercedes Mastermind Hits Out at F1’s “Grueling” Agenda

Do you remember how Max Verstappen threatened F1 that he’d quit the sport if they made any more changes to it? The Dutchman isn’t a fan of the Sprint races and advised on how it makes the already relentless season even more hectic. As George Russell coughed his way onto the podium in Abu Dhabi, a Mercedes mastermind comforted the Brit to take a jab at F1’s grueling agenda. What did the mastermind say?

Ever since the Liberty Media takeover in 2017, F1’s focus has shifted somewhat toward the entertainment and business aspects of the sport. While the core sport is still at the heart of everything happening around it, the commercialization of F1 has meant that the real identity of the sport is being diminished little by little. Max Verstappen called the Las Vegas GP a “99% show and 1% sporting event.” 

The 2023 F1 season had 22 races, excluding the Emilia-Romagna GP that got canceled. With F1 planning to expand the calendar further, the question of how many races are too many arises. After all, drivers also have a limit. Drivers lose up to 4kg of weight in some races and face upward of 5Gs. Imagine doing that 22 times a year for multiple hours at a stretch. Grueling, isn’t it? 

Coming into the final race of the season, George Russell was low and feeling under the weather. After all, the penultimate race in Sin City was quite cold. And with a triple header before the last two races, F1’s schedule post the summer break was ridiculous. All because F1 management wants to squeeze as many races as it can on the calendar. The more races there are, the higher the revenue for the sport. But also greater physical and mental pressure on the teams.

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Talking about George Russell coughing at the Abu Dhabi GP, Rosie Wait, Mercedes’ Head of Race strategy, said, “It’s been a really tough season and a particularly grueling run in, and quite a few of us are feeling fairly under the weather. However, unlike George, most of us don’t have to sit in a Formula 1 car being subjected to the kind of forces he experiences for 58 laps of the race. I suspect [the Abu Dhabi GP] was a very unpleasant and uncomfortable experience. Hopefully, now he’s got a bit of time to rest and relax, and he’ll be feeling much better soon.”

Bernie Ecclestone advises on the F1 calendar having too many races.

The 2024 F1 season calendar is out, and a 24-race schedule awaits the grid. Considering the amount of traveling that teams have to do for each race, 24 seems like a bit of a push, both physically and financially. Nonetheless, going into the Las Vegas GP, Bernie Ecclestone said that Las Vegas had nothing to do with F1 and that he was not looking forward to the race. 

During an interview with NOS, Bernie Ecclestone, while talking about Zandvoort, advised on F1 having too many races in a calendar year. He said, “As long as Max drives in Formula 1, Zandvoort will stay on the calendar. How it goes on after that, who will say it? Maybe we’re going to lose a few races. 24 races on the calendar is too much, a few will go off.” 

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How many races do you think is too many? What are your thoughts on the physical repercussions drivers face because of F1’s relentless schedule?