F1 CEO Says ‘It Is Not Mandatory to Race’ as Drivers Continue to Complain About 24 Race Calendar

The increasing number of races on the F1 calendar has been a big point of contention among drivers. Many including Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris, and George Russell have complained about how grueling a 24-race calendar can be for them and team mechanics. Now, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has responded to these concerns, giving a view of how they are trying to balance the entire situation out, while also reminding drivers that they can opt out of race weekends at their discretion.

According to FormulaPassion, Domenicali said, “24 [races] is an optimal figure. I talk to the drivers and it is not mandatory to race in Formula 1. I mean, it’s a question of respect for the fans. They want to see them race and we have a responsibility to fans, partners, promoters, and the sport.”

The Italian also discussed how they are trying to regionalize the calendar more and more for the future. F1 has already released the 2025 season schedule, which will also have 24 races but the effort of regionalizing races is visible.

Domenicali cited that they ideally want drivers to enjoy and have fun during the season and not get frustrated with the calendar’s length. However, drivers won’t be happy if the number of races goes past 24.

In the past, the F1 season has had 17 to 18 races that have increased to 20, 21, and now 24. Moreover, the sprint race weekends add to the physical and mental stress for drivers and team personnel.

There have also been talks of increasing the number of sprint races, which currently stands at six weekends in the season. Norris and Verstappen did not advocate this change, given how it could become even more stressful for all teams.

Is F1 headed in the right direction in terms of the number of races?

The F1 season started at the beginning of March this year and will conclude in the first week of December. Naturally, staying away from home and their family for over nine months of the year is not easy.

While drivers and mechanics get breaks between race weekends, the arduous nature of F1 doesn’t allow them to rest easy before the end of the season. The constant travels from one country to another keeps all team personnel in flight for a significant time throughout the season.

Fernando Alonso recently revealed the flight time he has had so far in the 2024 season. The Aston Martin driver has flown for almost 153 hours for just five races so far!

This is naturally quite grueling for drivers and mechanics’ health, both physically and mentally. Besides, it also increases the carbon footprint that F1 leaves on the environment.

This is something Domenicali would want to minimize with the regionalization of the calendar. Given Formula 1 has set its sustainability goals for going net zero on their carbon footprint by 2030, they will have to make the calendar as sustainable and convenient for drivers and teams as possible.