Last weekend’s Las Vegas GP took its toll on the F1 community given the event’s logistics and timetable, but the prospect of the race starting a brutal triple-header in 2024 has several of the sport’s drivers up in arms.
Last week’s long trek west to Nevada forced team members to adjust to multiple time zones, but once on site, the event’s timetable involved days that extended into the wee hours of the following morning.
Thursday’s troubles and the delay of FP2 pushed the teams’ hard working mechanics to the limit with everyone leaving the track well after the crack of dawn only to clock in at the end of the afternoon for another extended shift into the night.
While F1’s 2024 calendar has been published for some, it appeared lost on many drivers that next year’s final stint will include a Vegas-Qatar-Abu Dhabi triple header that will exhaust to the full the most endurant and resilient members of the paddock given the massive time shift and traveling miles involved.
“What!? No way!” reacted Daniel Ricciardo when told about next year’s scheduling.
"Yeah, that does not have my vote. And now, knowing that, they need to bring it forward, because we will be wrecked, especially end of the season.
"I've done like six races, and I already feel it, so hopefully they can make something work.
"After Thursday, after that late [FP2] session, I feel like probably all of us have been a little bit delirious and hallucinating, so it felt like a bit of a whirlwind since then."
Max Verstappen, last Saturday’s victor, agreed that bringing forward Las Vegas, and perhaps coupling the race with Austin, would help mitigate its effects.
“For next year maybe that is not possible but to maybe make it a bit better travelling also to Abu Dhabi," he added.
"At the moment it's such a big time shift that, especially at the end of the season when everyone is already a bit tired, I think it's a little bit much.
"So, maybe it would be ideal to find a different kind of date because I find that maybe we need to do more of an American tour.
"Of course, maybe for ticket sales I don't know if that's ideal, so maybe we can find a bit of a solution there.
"I think the 12-hour time zone shifts and also completely different timings for racing, I find that a bit much."
Austin and Las Vegas would likely not be keen on twinning their races for fear of oen event cannibalizing the tickets sales of the other, as Verstappen suggests.
The Dutchman’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, would like to see Las Vegas instead of Abu Dhabi close out the season.
"I think it was a great first event but like Max says, just to think about that we have to go now to Abu Dhabi, probably the longest distance that we have to travel the whole year,” noted the Mexican.
"So yeah, probably look at it and make Vegas the final race."
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