Formula 1 working on attaining a ‘perfect calendar’ in the future
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Formula 1 has received quite a bit of criticism over the years for a supposedly ‘illogical’ race schedule. This has especially been the case with the 2023 calendar, which will (possibly, due to the Chinese GP being at risk) feature 24 races – the most ever. A common point of criticism was how the calendar would go from Spain, across the Atlantic to Canada, but then come back to Europe for the next race in Austria.
Another criticism is how in 2022 the São Paulo Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend are back to back, despite there being more than a 12,000 km distance between them. The last straw to many was how the races only have a week’s gap between them. A parallel of this can be drawn between Las Vegas (November 18) and Abu Dhabi (November 26) in 2023 – the two are 13,000 km apart.
Formula 1 is listening, and F1 sporting director Steve Nielsen has revealed that they are working on a future ‘perfect calendar’: “We’re working on regionalising the calendar. We have a future calendar, I won’t tell you from which year, but we have a future sort of perfect calendar, within some years down the line.” as reported by Autosport.
But there will be no revolution, and the process will take at least a ‘few’ years: “And we’re iterating gradually towards that each year, moving an event here or there by a week. So there’s a strategy to get from where we are now, which we’re not happy with, to a much happier place in a few years’ time. But it’s a gradual process.”
Why can’t Formula 1 change the calendar at will?
If the sport wants to change the calendar, surely there is no one standing in their way, right? Well, not exactly. There are existing deals with specific tracks, including some which are date-specific. This, in combination with factors like the weather or the country’s own important events and dates affect how the calendar is shaped. You can’t race in Canada in the winter.
Steve Nielsen explained: “It’s a journey. As I’m sure you appreciate, we don’t start each year with a blank calendar, we don’t have the freedom to put races exactly where we would like to put them.” adding that some of the sport’s ‘promoter deals’ do not give F1 the freedom that it ‘would perhaps like’, and that the sport and the organization will have to spend time convincing the other party to amend the deal.
Formula 1 understands the benefits of ‘regionalization: “So there’s a myriad of kind of influences that determine it, and it will take some time to get to. I think the important thing is that that journey has now begun. We understand and appreciate the benefits that will come from regionalisation.”
Nielsen also said that some of the races on the calendar are not where they would normally be due to the effects of COVID, which is just one of the things that Formula 1 has to work on to optimize and attain the ‘perfect calendar’.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)