Christian Horner divulges how Formula 1 plays the ‘same trick’ on its teams every year

Christian Horner has revealed that F1, particularly, CEO Stefano Domenicali play a 'trick', concerning the calendar, on its teams every year.

Christian Horner divulges how Formula 1 plays the ‘same trick’ on its teams every year

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner (L) | F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali (R)

2023 was scheduled to have 24 races, which is the maximum amount allowed by the current Concorde Agreement. But the Chinese Grand Prix was canceled, for the fourth season in a row. As it is, with 23 races, this is still the longest F1 calendar of all time. In the last few years, especially since Liberty Media’s takeover, F1 has shifted focus to regions outside of Europe – such as the Middle East, and the USA. Christian Horner, though, could do with much fewer races.

A long race calendar, though technically bringing in more broadcasting and ‘match’ fees to the sport, poses several challenges as well. It may be more entertaining for fans, as they’ll get to see the sport they love much more. But teams, especially now in a budget cap situation, have a hard job on their hand. The workload gets more intensive, and transportation becomes an even bigger issue. Especially when some of these races are very far away from where most teams are based – Europe.

In addition, Formula 1, and particularly, its CEO, Stefano Domenicali, keeps playing a ‘trick’ on the teams. In conversation with the Financial Times, Horner was asked about the ‘absolute maximum’ number of races in a season. While laughing, he said: “About 18?” He continued: “But the problem is, Stefano turns up and they play the same trick every year and it’s like, ‘Oh, maybe we can’t go to Silverstone or Monza’s looking a bit wobbly’, and so on.”

The Red Bull team principal further explained: “And so he says: ‘Well, look, we can’t lose Monaco, we can’t lose Monza, we can’t lose Silverstone.’ And then he’ll say: ‘But, what about Las Vegas?’ Okay, alright, we’ll go to Vegas. ‘What about Miami?’ Yeah, alright. We’ll go there too. And, you know, they just keep coming up with great venues and great races, and it’s difficult to say no.”

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Christian Horner: 23 races in one F1 season is an ‘insane amount’

Christian Horner
Christian Horner

While he likes that Formula 1 goes to great, and unique venues, it’s getting a bit too much for Christian Horner. Many other drivers and figures, including his own driver, Max Verstappen, have echoed his sentiments. The Dutchman openly stated that the ‘insane’ schedule would be contributing to his (potential) retirement after his current Red Bull contract expires.

So, Horner continued: “But you do reach a point where you wonder where you get saturation and 23 is an insane amount of racing and mileage that we have to cover in a season. I think it’s better to have competition for the existing venues [rather] than just keep adding more and more because you do get to a point of breaking point, which I don’t feel we’re that far from.”

Depending on the status of the Chinese Grand Prix, or the addition of any other, the calendar may expand to 24 races next year. Of course, it may grow more in the future as well – as Formula 1 is seeking to renew the current Concorde Agreement early. With it, the maximum number of races allowed may go up, though that would be rather unlikely.

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