{"id":41373,"date":"2025-04-22T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/41373\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:08:14","slug":"once-unwanted-now-here-to-stay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/41373\/","title":{"rendered":"once unwanted, now here to stay"},"content":{"rendered":"

The upcoming Miami Grand Prix will be the first Formula 1 race not to be part of a double- or triple-header since last year\u2019s Canadian Grand Prix on 9 June 2024.<\/p>\n

That is a consequence of the expansion of the calendar, which averaged 16 races per season in the 1980s and 1990s but gradually increased to the current 24 over the past two decades or so.<\/p>\n

Up until 2003, grands prix were consistently organised every two weeks, with very occasional double-headers. Consecutive\u00a0races progressively became the norm in subsequent years.<\/p>\n

2018 was a milestone in that regard because it was the first season to include a triple-header, with Le Castellet, Red Bull Ring and Silverstone hosting F1 on successive weekends. That calendar was the first to be conceived under F1\u2019s new owners Liberty Media and was announced in June 2017.<\/p>\n

At the time, the triple-header was viewed with great concern. \u201cA Formula 1 car has a life on every component, and some of those parts can’t do three grands prix in a row,\u201d Toro Rosso team manager Graham Watson told Motorsport.com at the time.<\/p>\n

However, the main worry was the strain on human resources. \u201cMentally and physically it’s really tiring, more than people realise,\u201d Watson said, with his views echoed by most team bosses.<\/p>\n

\"Mechanics <\/p>\n

Mechanics did not have things easy in 2018 with a very first triple-header<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andrew Hone \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

Drivers did not mind \u2013 some actually enjoyed it from a personal standpoint. But they were aware of conditions being much tougher for their teams, especially mechanics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for drivers it\u2019s ok, but just for the rest of the crew it\u2019s tremendous \u2013 the work that these people do, the mechanics, the catering, etc., it\u2019s tremendous,\u201d Force India driver Sergio Perez<\/a> insisted.<\/p>\n

The triple-header took place without any notable incidents, with a trio of victors: Lewis Hamilton<\/a> came out on top in France, Max Verstappen<\/a> triumphed in Austria and Sebastian Vettel<\/a> won on his title rival\u2019s turf in Great Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the drivers, it’s probably not so bad,\u201d Renault racer Nico Hulkenberg<\/a> agreed. \u201cI think a lot of the team personnel, they are knackered. For us it’s a bit more comfortable, we don’t have to work every day like many of the team members \u2013 they have their three weeks flat out basically, working every day without breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Silverstone paddock, there was consensus on F1 preferably steering clear of triple-headers in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is [the calendar is] most likely not going to have a triple-header again next year,\u201d said McLaren<\/a> CEO Zak Brown. \u201cI think most of the teams, if not all of the teams, would probably not prefer three races.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cF1 is pretty good at getting over logistical and technical challenges, that’s what we’re best at. But it comes at a cost, financial and human,\u201d Haas team boss Guenther Steiner pointed out. \u201cWe can do everything \u2013 four in a row or five in a row \u2013 but do we really want to do that? Is it worthwhile?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Team <\/p>\n

Team principals were outspoken against triple-headers in their dedicated FIA press conference at Silverstone<\/p>\n

Photo by: Simon Galloway \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing is the people,\u201d Claire Williams added. \u201cThey put in an enormous effort, and when they’re not able to get home, it is a tough thing for them and for their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we’ve learned our lesson that it is quite a tough gig for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 21-race 2019 calendar thus featured merely five double-headers. F1\u2019s sporting director at the time, Steve Nielsen, said that adding a triple-header to the schedule in the future was \u201cnot something we\u2019d undertake lightly\u201d and would not be an option on the world championship\u2019s core continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Europe we have large hospitality units,\u201d Nielsen explained. \u201cThey are unique, but constructing and deconstructing them is enormously time-consuming and hugely expensive in terms of manpower, etc. So if we were to do something like a triple-header, I think it would be at flyaways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initial 2020 calendar featured a record-breaking 22 grands prix, including seven double-headers \u2013 meaning only eight races were standalones.<\/p>\n

However, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc, with lockdown and social distancing measures meaning the season was unable to get under way until July.<\/p>\n

As a consequence, the eventual 2020 schedule was comprised of a whopping 17 grands prix in just over five months. Three triple-headers were followed by standalones at Sochi and Nurburgring, then the only double-header, another standalone in Turkey, and a final triple-header.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The flowing Mugello track concluded F1 2020’s third triple-header \u2013 nine races in 11 weekends<\/p>\n

Photo by: Charles Coates \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the special circumstances we are in this year, it\u2019s something we simply have to get through this year,\u201d Andreas Seidl, then McLaren\u2019s team principal, said. \u201cBut at the same time, this cannot be the new standard going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, triple-headers were no longer eschewed. There were two of them in 2021, just one in 2022, and another in 2023. The 2024 campaign, with its record-breaking 24 events, included three triple-headers, with some gruelling travel on the cards: Spain-Austria-Britain, USA-Mexico-Brazil, Las Vegas-Qatar-Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

2025 is no different: F1 has just got through a Japan-Bahrain-Saudi Arabia series of races before Italy-Monaco-Spain and, again, Las Vegas-Qatar-Abu Dhabi later this year.<\/p>\n

How did this happen, one might wonder, given how reluctant the paddock used to be?<\/p>\n

The situation is very similar when it comes to the number of races. In 2017, Fernando Alonso<\/a> claimed he would retire if F1 ever had 25-round calendars. Lewis Hamilton said the following year: \u201cI’m not going to be here when it gets to 25, that’s for sure.\u201d\u00a0This was a popular stance among drivers in the 2010s. Well, we\u2019re on 24 grands prix \u2013 and both Hamilton and Alonso are still here.<\/p>\n

\"Lewis <\/p>\n

Hamilton was having the time of his life in 2018, but remained wary of how additional races would impact the paddock<\/p>\n

Photo by: Erik Junius<\/p>\n

The bottom line is, humans easily get used to anything if the change is gradual. Twenty years ago, a 20-race schedule was viewed as a hard limit, but the Overton window keeps shifting.<\/p>\n

This does not mean that triple-headers are good \u2013 nor are we trying to argue they are inherently bad. Simply, in the absence of any more backlash, if F1 benefits from them financially, triple-headers are here to stay.<\/p>\n

In this article<\/p>\n

Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics<\/p>\n

Subscribe to news alerts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The upcoming Miami Grand Prix will be the first Formula 1 race not to be part of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,707,4200,16025,16024,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-41373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-formula1","11":"tag-jeddah-street-circuit","12":"tag-saudi-arabian-gp","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114382248843070746","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}