Red Bull Content Pool

General

What pain points are all in 'sometimes illogical' 2023 F1 calendar

20 September 2022 at 17:01
Last update 20 September 2022 at 19:06
4
  • GPblog.com

The FIA and Formula 1 proudly announced next season's calendar, but very logical programming is not in our eyes. Moreover, there are a number of pain points that need to be resolved. Which ones exactly we will explain to you in this article.

F1 and logistics

To begin with, it is illogical that the Qatar Grand Prix is not the penultimate Grand Prix of the season. Between 6 and 8 October, it will be raced in the oil state, but it is a standalone event. Logistically not very convenient. Why not just have it the weekend before the season finale in Abu Dhabi? Or early in the season when we are near season anyway with GPs in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The World Cup is long gone by March, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Like the weekend in Qatar, the Canadian Grand Prix is also an F1 event that requires the entire circus to come up and down from Europe just once. It would make much more sense to combine the visit to Miami in early May with the Canadian Grand Prix. After all, the same applies to Miami as Qatar and Canada.

Of course, Formula 1 has to deal with contracts and depends on when promoters can host a Grand Prix, but if we are talking about becoming more sustainable, wanting to emit less and reducing costs for teams, a few shifts would make a big difference.

Grands Prix in Belgium and the Netherlands

In recent years, the Belgian Grand Prix always took place in the last week of August, making it always the first race after the summer break. The race has now been moved to 30 July, but on that weekend the WEC 24 Hours at Spa-Francorchamps is also scheduled. They announced their race calendar several months ago, making them the first in line. Who will give way?

Moreover, the Netherlands also faces quite a challenge when the Formula 1 circus travels to the Netherlands between 25 August and 27 August. On a daily basis, 105,000 visitors will again have to be transported to Circuit Zandvoort. That weekend, Mysteryland also takes place. This year, the festival attracted 133,000 visitors to the Haarlemmermeer Woods over the Saturday and Sunday.

This year, no NS trains ran to Duivendrecht and Amsterdam Bijlmer Arena because of the F1 weekend. Concert-goers heading to the Amsterdam Arena, AFAS Live or the Ziggo Dome were screwed. So how will that be next year when another such big event comes along?

China, will it go ahead or not?

There was no race in China in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and they are still a bit wary of sporting events because of the coronavirus. The Grand Prix is scheduled early in the year, which means that a decision on whether or not to go there with Formula 1 also has to be made relatively early in 2023.  With an unpredictable winter in terms of infections, that might be asking for trouble.