2024 is set to be the longest season in F1 history with 24 races in a calendar year. This will see the drivers go through a grueling test for 293 days and travel to 21 different countries in 11 months. Naturally, the concern comes about the drivers’ and pit crews’ health for such extensive travel throughout the year, something Kym Illman shed light on in his recent video.
The season gets underway in Bahrain on February 21 with the pre-season testing and will end in Abu Dhabi on December 10 with the post-season testing. Illman, the renowned photojournalist speaking on this, said, “Well, it’s going to be more illnesses and if you go to the Las Vegas race, certainly there are a lot of people ill in the paddock with colds and all sorts of issues.”
Esteban Ocon and George Russell fell ill following the glitzy and glamorous 2023 Las Vegas GP. Defending champion Max Verstappen, who was also on the receiving end of the grueling double-header from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi spoke against it. He stated that such extensive travel is a bit too much for the human body as well as for environmental sustainability.
Illman, in his video also added how the teams have decided to take a different route plan to tackle the issue. They planned to rotate the team crew throughout the season, but it’s not applicable for drivers. The 20 drivers need to be present in all 24 races and that is going to take a toll on their health.
Keeping aside the Las Vegas GP, the 2023 Qatar GP was a race drivers would want to forget. The extreme heat of the Middle East compelled drivers to seek medical attention as soon as the race was over.
How did F1 drivers fall ill after Las Vegas?
George Russell fell prey to the weather after arriving in Las Vegas. So did Esteban Ocon who had to skip the following Abu Dhabi GP media day due to sickness. The Mercedes driver was caught coughing where he revealed that he was not feeling well. Later on, he went on to criticize the grueling calendar of F1 that took a huge toll on everybody’s health.
Russell, amid his sickness, took P4 in the Las Vegas qualifying. Citing this, the British driver said that he has been quick despite being sick, and joked he should get sick more often to extract better results like this.
The doubleheader between Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi has a 12-hour time difference. With crew and drivers already exhausted in the Sin City race, they arrived in Abu Dhabi with sickness. Due to the extremity of travel, almost 80 percent of people in the paddock were ill, shared Ocon, who, as per Illman needed 10 days to recover.
