Formula1 makes major changes to the weekend schedule for 2022


Formula1 makes major changes to the weekend schedule for 2022

F1

Formula1 is gearing up for significant new changes during the 2022 season and most of the pundits are seeing it as a new dawn that is going to change the whole landscape of Formula1.

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With the help of racingnews365, we are going to take a look at new regulation changes and also the changes in weekend schedules that are headed the way of the participating teams. This should also interest the fans of the sport as they too would have to adjust to the changes as they are going to affect their schedules as well.

F1 calander grows further with 23 races planned in 2022

Formula1 calendar
Formula1 calendar

Liberty Media acquired the rights of Formula1 in 2017 and listed it on NASDAQ and since then the main target for the group has been to increase the popularity of the sport in order to increase the share price of FWONK. Another goal for the group is to reduce the costs under the pre-determined budget cap, Formula1 usually runs on a very tight schedule which leads to greater traveling, clearing, and transportation costs.

In order to balance all the books, the obvious solution is to increase the number of races as it leads to greater revenue through hosting fees, increased TV offerings, and greater visibility of sponsors and trackside advertisers – hence 2022 season is having a record 23 races.

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Formula1
Formula1

However, this growth has a drawback as well, because of the increased number of races the time management is going to be an issue for the various teams as if the add-on races are staged outside Europe, then it would mean less free time for the team members as the increased travel would not allow anyone to catch a break.

The tripleheader weekends always pose a tough challenge for the teams and if we take the 2022 calendar into account the first three races are going to be staged back to back in the middle east and this again raises the issue that the serving personnel of various teams won’t be able to see their loved ones for a while and given how stressful the race weekends are, it is important to look after the mental health of the individuals and spending time with family is one way through which the various team’s personnel recharge their batteries.

What will the new F1 schedule look like?

Formula1
Formula1

During the old days, Formula1 was used to operating in four days format, and for Monaco, it was five with the opening day in each case including all the administrative activities and media proceedings with trackside operations commencing on Fridays. However, the landscape for 2022 has changed and we are now going to witness all events in three-day schedules with non-essential personnel not getting paddock access on Thursdays.

Therefore the 2022 weekends are going to start on Friday mornings with media sessions, and meetings which would probably take the teams to midday. After this will come the on-track action with two 90 minute practice sessions taking place with a gap of two hours in between.

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For the 2022 season, the FP1 session is going to start at 13:00 local time with FP2 taking place from 17:00 to 18:30. The free practice sessions are going to be followed by media sessions and team briefings which are going to keep the teams trackside for at least 12 hours.

Team meetings
Team meetings

According to the revised regulations “a further free practice session (P3), lasting one hour and starting no less than seventeen-and-a-half hours after the end of P2, will take place on the day before the race”, so from noon on Saturday. The qualifying sessions are going to take place on Saturdays and are going to start at least two hours after finishing the FP3 session.

There are no changes in the qualifying sessions as the Q1 session is going to be 18 minutes with the bottom five getting knocked out and the Q2 is going to be 15 minutes which will start 7 minutes after the finishing of the Q1 session. The Q3 session will be the usual 10-minute session. The Grand Prix’s during the 2022 season cannot start any later than four hours before official sunset.

Formula1
Formula1

The new regulations have, however, kept time for the driver interactions with fans “Within a one-hour period finishing no later than one hour and 30 minutes before P3, all drivers must be available for fan activities (including, but not limited to, autograph sessions and fan forums) for a maximum period of 15 minutes each within the hour.”

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Three day full of F1 action on and of the track

Accordingly, a typical weekend schedule during the 2022 F1 season will be:

Friday
09:00 – Media/documentation/scrutineering
13:00-14:30 – FP1
15:00-16:00 – Team representative media session
17:00-18:30 – FP2
19:00 onwards – Media/briefings

Saturday
09:00-10:30 – Driver/fan interaction, autographs (each team minimum 15 minutes)
12:00-13:00 – FP3
15:00-16:00 – Qualifying
17:00 onwards – Media/briefings

Sunday
13:30 – Driver parade
15:00 – Race start
18:00 – Media

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Note: Exact timings will vary within permitted parameters, particularly for dusk/night races.

The hierarchy at Formula1 believes that the revised format is going to help in saving 24 days – two days from Monaco and one each for the rest of the 22 races. Personnel at Formula1 are hopeful that this is going to help in saving hotel costs and is going to allow team members additional time off between races.

However, there are no guarantees that the additional days are going to go to leisure time for the team members, one thing that can be said for certain is that it is going to make the schedule a bit less hectic for everyone involved.

Also Read: Lewis Hamilton Girlfriend: Who did the seven-time world champion date the longest?

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