Szafnauer's ideas: from 30 GPs on the calendar to 'wild cards' | FP

2024: The GP record on the calendar

The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship has officially begun with the first free practice sessions of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first of 24 appointments scheduled on the calendar. A number representing a absolute record in the history of F1 for race weekends, and which generated quite a bit of controversy due to the excessive commitment of the drivers and team personnel. Not everyone, however, sees this aspect as a critical element in terms of continuous transfers.

30 GPs in a year: the solution

For the former Team Principal of Aston Martin and Alpine, Otmar SzafnauerFormula 1 could even plan a championship with 30 GPs on the calendar. To do this, the Romanian-American engineer would have thought of a project consisting of the creation of two work teams per teameach of them working for 15 races: “For me, if you plan everything right, I think 25-30 is the right number of races – he explained to Reuters – if you get to 30, you need to have two teams in each team, and each plays 15 races. It would be an easier life than the current one. I understand what Liberty Media is doing, it's the right thing for the sport.”

Wild cards for teams

Furthermore, Szafnauer returned to another idea that he had floated before concluding his adventure in Alpine last year mid-season: that of wild cards. To allow a team member to be able to take time off from work for family reasons, they could choose a maximum number of 4 race weekends away from F1resulting in the arrival of another person.

“The wild card – added Szafnauer – it means that you can choose four races in which you do nothing away from the circuit. People look at the calendar and say that it takes a lot of time out of their lives, and therefore birthdays, weddings and things that are not nice to miss are missed. There's a way to figure this out: we have 24 races, you do 20 and you have four wild cards. Later we will choose which ones and look for solutions. To do 26 or even 28 races around the world, the calendar has to allow it. If you can overcome the logistical challenge, and I think with good planning you can, and if you overcome the human element, which I think is quite good, you have to look at the calendar in a creative way.”