McLaren boss Zak Brown has suggested the 2024 F1 calendar is at the limit regarding the number of races that should be accommodated into a season.
Earlier this month, a 24-event 2024 calendar was released.
That will see the championship run from the opening weekend in March to December.
With pre- and post-season testing and a mid-season shutdown in August, it effectively extends the racing season to 26 events in 21 countries across 39 weeks.
By contrast, this season, NASCAR, arguably the most prolific motorsport competition, takes in 36 events (including the Clash, Duel, and All Star weekend) across a 40-week period.
A key difference, however, is NASCAR’s schedule is limited to the United States.
“I think 24 is the limit, Stefano [Domenicali, F1 CEO] has said as such,” Brown said of F1’s 2024 calendar.
“There’s a demand for probably 30 grands prix, so I’d like to see a day where you’re 24 grand prix per season, but in order to embrace more markets, maybe you have 20, fixed grands prix and eight rotational so you’re in 28 markets 24 times a year.
“I think it would be a great way to keep the calendar where it is but yet still have calendar growth.”
Formula 1 is in a delicate balancing act of maximising its growth while safeguarding its future and working towards its net carbon zero goals by 2030.
With that latter point in mind, the calendar next year has been rejigged, with the Japanese Grand Prix moving to the front end of the year.
Increased regionalisation is a deliberate play by organisers to minimise not only travel costs, but also the environmental impact the sport has.
There is also a human element involved with the sport becoming increasingly taxing on individuals within the paddock.
“Clearly, we can’t just keep throwing the same people at it,” noted Williams boss James Vowles. “We have to rethink almost to a certain extent how we’re running racing organisations.
“But there are other racing series that are doing 32 or more weekends a year.
“It’s just an optimisation problem; how do we make a life that is sustainable for everyone who wants to continue to perform?”
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack added: “The 24 races have been debated a lot.
“We have also the doubleheaders, the triple headers, I think all in all, it is probably not far from the limit of what we can do, or what we can accept.
“It is down to the teams to find ways of making this sustainable for the employees.
“I think all the teams do that, discuss that, for trying to find solutions.
“But again, it shows the strength of the sport, and it is something that we have all agreed to.
“Now we have to find ways of making it happen in a sustainable way for everybody.”
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