Is 23 race F1 season a viable option?

I am sure those following Formula One will be very aware of last weekend’s bizarre Turkish Grand Prix and the result. All weekend, the world’s best drivers were attempting to keep their cars on a rain soaked track, recently resurfaced and incredibly slippery. Drivers were hoping for a decent lap time on tyres with compounds which struggled to reach and maintain temperatures or grained early.

Running on full wets seemed to work, but as the water dispersed a move to intermediates appeared to be the solution. It was for some, but for many it proved to be their downfall – ask pole sitter Lance Stroll of Racing Point.

It looked as though Lewis Hamilton would experience a dismal Sunday, but it will long be remembered as one of his finest races  Starting on full wet Pirellis, he made the change to intermediates on lap eight and nurtured them through the remaining laps to a brilliant victory to secure his seventh drivers’ title.

With just three more races in the 2020 season, attention is moving to 2021 and the FIA have released the provisional calendar for a 23 race line-up.

It looks like this:

• 21 March – Australia – Albert Park
• 28 March – Bahrain – Bahrain International
• 11 April – China – Shanghai International
• 25 April – Vietnam – Hanoi Street Circuit
• 9 May – Spain – Catalunya
• 23 May – Monaco – Monte Carlo
• 6 June – Azerbaijan – Baku Street Circuit
• 13 June – Canada – Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
• 27 June –France – Circuit Paul Ricard
• 4 July –Austria – Red Bull Ring
• 18 July – Britain – Silverstone
• 1 August – Hungary – Hungaroring
• 29 August– Belgium – Spa Francorchamps
• 5 September – Netherlands – Zandvoort
• 12 September – Italy – Monza
• 26 September – Russia – Sochi
• 3 October – Singapore
• 10 October – Japan – Suzuka
• 24 October – USA – Circuit of the Americas
• 31 October – Mexico – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
• 14 November – Brazil – Interlagos
• 28 November – Saudi Arabia – Jeddah Street Circuit
• 5 December – Abu Dhabi – Yas Marina

The calendar now awaits approval by the World Motor Sport Council, but already one event has reportedly been cancelled. For the second time (the first being due to the coronavirus), the Vietnam leg drops from the calendar. The man who championed the event, Hanoi People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Duc Chang, will not be available to continue. The reason is his arrest in August on charges of corruption and the alleged appropriation of “documents containing state secrets”. Where have I heard that before?

The publishing of the calendar has urged a rethink for teams, as 23 races per year would be stretching personnel to the limits and could well result in the necessity of two sets of engineers working on a rotational basis.

Alpha Tauri team chief Franz Tost is reported as saying in Autosprint: “If everything goes well with the coronavirus, which I assume it will, we will have 23 Grands Prix next season. But 23 races is impossible with a single team of engineers. So we will have to come up with something to divide things up with a larger team of engineers.”

Strange, as F1 is to implement cost caps in the coming seasons. Employing more engineers must surely increase operating costs for every team?

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.