Vettel warns F1 not to "neglect" personnel with 2022 calendar

F1 is poised to announce a 23-round schedule for next season at next week’s FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting. 

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports this week, F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali confirmed that the 2022 season will consist of the most races in the history of the world championship. 

It is anticipated to be a highly-congested calendar that could feature as many as eight additional sprint races across 23 events crammed in between mid-March and mid-November, meaning the prospect of multiple double and triple-headers is likely. 

Teams have expressed concerns over a jam-packed calendar following a second year of COVID-19 disruption and Aston Martin driver Vettel is worried F1 risks ignoring the human cost of an even busier schedule. 

“We can see now that it is an immense task and we mustn't neglect that we are a group of people and human beings travelling around the world," the four-time world champion said on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix. 

"You can make the numbers. You have 52 weekends in a year, if we do 23 of those as races and a couple of months in a year that we can't hold races in most places around the world, it obviously gives you a very intense season.

"The objective should be that we have a sustainable way to run our season, not only for the environment but also looking at the human resource.

"If you have so many people involved, and the weekends are far longer than the Saturday-Sundays that we see on the TV for most of the team. I think drivers, we are at the lucky end.

“It should be held in a way that those people can also have a normal life apart from their jobs. Most of them, whether it's engineers or mechanics, staff working in the team, they have a family or children that they want to look after.

"So, we must be very careful with where we want to put our interests.”

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo shared Vettel’s fears, adding: “It is really important for the team to have close relationships with other members of the team because we’re away from families for long periods of time, especially the triple headers. 

“So you need to kind of rely on your teammates to help you out if you're a little a little down, or missing home or whatever it is.

"I really hope next year the world keeps opening up and we can interact more with the team. And it’s not just at the track, but do some events and dinners, and I think having that social life outside of the paddock on a race weekend helps break up the weekend as well.

“That is an important time to switch off and just ease some of the stresses of the travel and the homesickness. Those are a few of the keys to making it a little bit easier.”