McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl wants Formula 1 calendar to drop to 20 races

Andreas Seidl believes the ideal Formula 1 calendar would consist of 20 races as it would allow them to reach new markets but would be more sustainable.

The schedule has got busier and busier in recent years with more rounds than ever added to the calendar.

The current season is set to end on a record total of 22 race weekends while next year’s campaign will be even longer with 23 if all goes to plan.

Seidl understands why the sport is keen to keep expanding from a commercial perspective, but would rather there be 20 races a year and no more for the sake of the staff and the environment.

“From our point of view we think that the ideal calendar is a calendar of 20 races,” said the McLaren team principal as per Motorsport Week.

“Maybe 15 races as fixed events and the possibility to rotate venues five venues year by year to be able to explore new markets or new venues.

“And obviously it is important when scheduling these 20 events that it is done in a way that it is also sustainable for our people, environmentally also sustainable.

“At the end it is Stefano [Domenicali’s] job and responsibility and we have the trust that he finds the right balance there as well between commercial interests that we have as a team and also in terms of looking after his people, our people and you guys [media].

“The most important thing is we have a good dialogue with F1 and the FIA.”

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The 2022 calendar has yet to be confirmed, but it looks likely that it will consist of multiple triple headers as it did this season.

This is something that Seidl won’t be happy about, with him previously stating that he believes such busy periods are too much of a burden on teams.

 

“The most important thing from my point of view is obviously that we don’t further increase the number of races per year,” he said.

“Because I think what we have in place now is already too much of a burden that we put on our people.

“And then another important topic is also the number of triple-headers. From my point of view, we should avoid them completely, again to reduce the burden on our people.”

 

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