With F1 having increased the number of races to 24 since last season, it is a known fact that drivers and their teams need to travel a lot. Several drivers and engineers have also complained that this increased traveling results in not just physical fatigue, but also mental fatigue.
Former F1 race strategist Bernie Collins was the latest to point this out. “I just decided it wasn’t really life to do 22 races,” she revealed on the Indo Sport podcast when asked why she quit her former job on the pit wall.
She added that what is most exhausting for people like her are the triple headers, as they do not get any leave during that time. “When you’re doing a triple header as a team, you start the week before doing all the prep work. Your only time off during those three weeks is the long-haul flight, which is arguably not really time off,” she said.
So, while it is a known fact that the sport has become increasingly tiring for those competing in it, even family and close friends are now complaining as well. Lando Norris’ close friend, Aarav — a content creator at Quadrant — recently shared his hectic experience.
“It’s been good,” Aarav replied on the Track Limits podcast when asked how his off-season had been.
“No, off-season honestly has definitely been very much needed. I feel like last year was a whirlwind — so much traveling, way more traveling than I actually thought I was going to be doing.”
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He added that he was present during last year’s Miami Grand Prix when Norris got his first F1 win. Other than that, Aarava also attended the British, Las Vegas, and Qatar GPs. So, with him attending races all over the world, one can understand why he needed to travel quite a bit.
Norris himself has complained about F1’s hectic schedule on multiple occasions. While he believes that drivers do not have it that difficult, he revealed that he certainly feels for his team members, who rarely get any time off.
“The main point is just the toll it has on mechanics and engineers. I don’t think it’s too bad for us as drivers, honestly,” he said in an interview last year.
“I don’t think we can be the ones to complain at all. It’s the hundreds of mechanics and engineers that we have here that have to travel so much. It’s not healthy for them. It is not sustainable.”
As for Aarava, since he is Norris’ good friend, he naturally has easy access to covering the British driver’s races and activities away from the track. Aarava certainly made good use of this, producing some quality content at last year’s Miami GP.
With him getting a paddock pass, he not only gave a tour of the paddock but also of McLaren’s garage, among several other things.
Since only celebrities, family, and close friends usually get access to paddock passes, the content Aarava provided was unique and something most F1 fans would love to see.
