The 26-year-old driver for Red Bull will begin on Saturday as the clear favorite in his pursuit of a fourth consecutive F1 Championship. However, despite his string of successes, he has grown weary of the expanding calendar.
“I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s important to reiterate that this is not sustainable,” Verstappen expressed to reporters at the Bahrain International Circuit. “I have a deep passion for racing and I participate in it frequently outside of Formula 1 as well.
“However, if individuals within the sport begin to shorten their careers due to the excessive demands, I believe it would be a shame. Hopefully, we can address this issue for the future,” he added.
F1 has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, partly due to the success of the Netflix show ‘Drive to Survive’. Liberty Media, the commercial rights holders of the sport, have taken advantage of this by introducing new venues in the Middle East, reintroducing classic European races, and adding three races in America, including Miami and Las Vegas alongside the long-standing fixture in Austin.
Teams have started rotating their personnel to cope with the demands of the lengthy calendar, and this year’s pre-season testing was reduced to just three days.
Fernando Alonso, a 42-year-old double F1 World Champion from Spain who made his debut in 2001, echoed Verstappen’s sentiments and reminisced about the days when the calendar consisted of fewer than 20 races.
“When I first started, we had 16 races. Then it increased to 18 at one point. When Liberty took over, we reached a limit of 20 races in a season,” stated the Aston Martin driver.
“Now, we have reached 24 races, which is not sustainable for the future. Even the world champion himself believes that the season is a bit too long.
“Imagine how it feels for the rest of us. In the second half of the season, we are essentially racing for nothing. There is no motivation to compete,” concluded Alonso. (Reported by Abhishek Takle)