The 2024 F1 season concluded its record 24-race calendar with a grueling triple-header of races. While the iconic Vegas Strip was once again an attractive destination for the sport, the turnaround from Las Vegas to Qatar was quite taxing. Journalists like Chris Medland and Lawrence Barretto suggested that a change is needed in this aspect of the F1 schedule.
On the Pad-Hoc podcast, Medland recounted the harrowing hours spent in Vegas and how it rendered him impossible to cover the Qatar GP the next weekend. He even went as far as recounting how he had to take naps between Q1 and Q2 during qualifying in Qatar to ensure that his cognitive abilities were functioning well as a journalist of his caliber should have.
“Going into Qatar, I really struggled then,” revealed Medland. Given the late-night shifts that the F1 crew has to pull at Las Vegas, Medland and Barretto suggested that the Grand Prix weekend should not be clubbed with recurring races.
“[It took] seven, eight, nine days after Vegas to finally get over the Vegas timezone. It is rough. That’s the one thing I would always say that F1 could do better… is make Vegas standalone. Just enjoy it for the event it is, it’s great but it’s exhausting”, Medland added.
And while Medland struggled to keep his wits about himself, Barretto really had a proper burn-out during the Grand Prix weekend at Las Vegas. Barretto’s physical condition was for everyone to see as he struggled to even conduct the post-race interviews in Qatar.
Does F1 need to rethink its racing calendar?
The fans tuning into the Qatar GP post-race interviews were greeted by a Lawrence Barretto that they hadn’t ever seen before. The Briton’s voice was breaking and it was pretty obvious that the weekend in Las Vegas had really taken a toll on him.
Barretto was pretty vocal about the struggles he faced. Moreover, he explained that owing to the tremendous physical stress of covering these events, and the time zones, he wasn’t able to attend events organized by the F1 teams.
In the end, it isn’t only the F1 crew members and journalists who have spoken out against this. Noticeably, Max Verstappen has himself called the sport out for the calendar it runs today citing the health of the crew members of each team and the general people working in and for the sport.
