Steiner disagrees with critics, doesn't mind jam-packed 2023 F1 calendar

The calendar for the 2023 Formula 1 season has already attracted criticism. With 24 races, it is the most extensive calendar the sport has ever had. Journalists previously fell out over the way the schedule was announced, but there are also problems with the content.

For those working at the track, it will certainly be a tough task. For half the year, they will have to travel the world to facilitate the sport. Last year already, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff expressed his concerns about this, but next year it will get even busier. Especially for teams like Alfa Romeo that are already understaffed, this could be a tough task. At that team, there will be even more pressure on the few employees the team has.

CO2 neutral?

Formula 1's goal is to become climate-neutral by 2030, but this set-up does not really reflect that ambition either. Due to the illogical sequence of races, the entire F1 circus will cover a whopping 133,000 kilometres next year, which certainly does not help with CO2 emissions. Sebastian Vettel recently expressed criticism of this. As much as 72 per cent of emissions in Formula 1 come from travelling around, and not even one per cent come from the cars themselves. So there is a lot to be gained there with the format of such a calendar.

Steiner sees no problems

But for Haas' team boss, none of this is an objection. On the contrary, Steiner, who will race his US team no less than three times in front of his own crowd next year, considers it a huge compliment that there are so many races scheduled. According to him, Formula 1's main task is to make the fans happy, and he sees the full calendar as a good way to do that. Especially in America, there is still a lot to gain in popularity, he told Motorsport.com. Formula 1 needs to capitalise on that, according to him, and more races is the best way to do that, in his opinion.