Triple header races 'unsustainable' for F1

Sep.21 (GMM) Triple header Formula 1 races are “unsustainable” for the future of the sport.

That is the claim of Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer, after an unprecedented run of nine grands prix in 2020 with just three ‘non race’ weekends in the same period.

“Everyone knows why we have to do that this season,” he told Speed Week. “But if we told our people that this was the future too, I think the mechanics would run away.

“These sequences of three races in three weeks is unsustainable.”

McLaren boss Andreas Seidl agrees: “I’m glad that the coming weeks will be a little more normal.

“This period of nine races in 11 weeks has been more intense than ever before. It drains people.”

However, it is believed possible that with Liberty Media wanting to expand the calendar to 25 races in the future, ‘triple headers’ could become a permanent feature.

Seidl added: “It must be clear to Formula One Management that we have a very special situation this year, in which extraordinary circumstances force extraordinary measures to be taken.

“But it must be clear to everyone that three races in a row should not become the norm.”