Sainz “totally against” F1 calendar expansion

Despite the planned reduction in the length of Formula 1 race weekends Carlos Sainz says he’s “totally against” a rapid calendar expansion in the future.

From 2021 all F1 race weekends will be trimmed to three days, effectively concentrating activities between Friday to Sunday which drops the need for Thursday track events, to reduce the impact of the long season by reducing travel and days spent away from home.

The move has also been introduced to balance the rapidly-expanding F1 calendar which grows to 22 races next season.

But with plans to increase the sport’s race calendar to potentially 25 races, Sainz doesn’t feel the cut to three-day events will be a fair solution given the heavy demand on team personnel already felt.

“I have a bit of mixed feelings. Personally I like when Formula 1 goes to a place it makes a big impact so it becomes a week of having Formula 1 there,” the McLaren driver said at the 2019 finale in Abu Dhabi. “I think it still involves too much travelling and too much effort from the mechanics but I think this is a way of preparing for a bigger calendar which is something I’m totally against.

“I mean 22 or 21 races already feels too much. I think that last extra day that we take off doesn’t fully compensate those 22 or 25 races that we want to have in the future.”

F1 owners Liberty Media have continued to target at least one more race in the North America region, as it continues to negotiate a planned Miami Grand Prix, while options in Asia are also being assessed following the introduction of the Vietnamese Grand Prix scheduled for its F1 debut next April.

The German Grand Prix has dropped off the F1 schedule for 2020 but that has been effectively replaced by the return of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Sainz’s home race at Circuit de Catalunya has been saved for 2020 due to government financial backing but the long-term future of the Spanish Grand Prix remains uncertain.