Villeneuve: Media ‘being left behind’ in brutal F1 season

As Formula 1 prepares for a record-breaking 24-race season in 2024, former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has warned about the grueling nature of the sport’s upcoming campaign, particularly for media personnel.

The return of China and Imola to the calendar has added to the logistical complexities, with teams facing a tight turnaround between races to transport equipment, personnel, and machinery across vast distances.

Villeneuve's concerns extend beyond the physical toll on drivers and teams. The Canadian argues that F1’s triple-header format will put immense pressure on media personnel, who will struggle to keep up with the frenetic pace of the season and the constant travel demands.

Travel costs will also strain the budgets of media organizations, further adding to the challenges of covering the sport.

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While teams have the resources to manage staff rotations and logistics, Villeneuve emphasized that the members of the media would struggle to keep up with the relentless schedule.

“That’s gonna be brutal,” the former Grand Prix driver told Planet F1. “Already, the double-header late in the season, flying back from Vegas.

“It’s not an easy airport to fly from so getting here… it’s ok for a big team because they can rent a big plane, put all the mechanics in it, and fly.

“It’s really brutal for the media – I think this is the group that is being left behind in all that is happening. The cost of everything is going up, hotels, travelling, these trips have become very, very complicated.

“But, for teams, they find ways to travel. Staff rotations can work but it’s hard on the staff. The timezone is in the wrong direction because you lose time by coming in instead of gaining.

“It makes it very hectic to set everything up, set the teams up, catering, and all that. It takes time and that’s a little bit rough.

“To have three in a row, although Qatar is not far from here, will be very tiring, especially at the end of the year and the season finishing in December. It’s tough for the mechanics as well, not the drivers.”

While Villeneuve's prediction of a "brutal" season is well-founded and echoed by many others, the Canadian recalls how the actual mileage and workload assumed by the drivers were greater during his time in the sport.

“If you look at the days when there was testing, there were fewer races, but a lot of testing,” he explained.

“So the amount of mileage and days on the track for the driver was more back then, but you had two teams, a test team, and the race team.

“So the mechanics actually had time to go back home and so on – it has become brutal on the mechanics.”

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