F1 News
Sainz on intense F1 schedule: 'Need changes to weekend'
Working in Formula 1 can be a physically and mentally tough job. Lots of flying, little sleep and, above all, lots of racing. Ahead of the Las Vegas GP, Carlos Sainz talks about the position they are in as drivers as opposed to, say, team staff.
The press conference looks at whether things should be changed in the future to improve employee welfare. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz believes drivers have a lot of privilege when it comes to welfare: "We get to travel business, first class or private. We get to go to the best hotels. We get to arrive on Tuesday, Wednesdays rather than on Mondays." He continued: "I don't like speaking from the privileged position that I think drivers are in. Yes, it's true that we are under pressure more than ever. Then we have a lot of media commitments, but I do feel like inside our teams, the 100 people that travel to the races in Ferrari, we are a bit more in a privileged position."
Limit hit
Sainz also thinks the number of races is enough: "24 races is the limit with this kind of schedules that we have now. I think a lot of teams are going into rotational programs with mechanics, engineers, and you can speak to a lot of teams in the paddock. Everyone is challenging themselves to do rotational programs. Obviously, I don't think you can rotate drivers, but let's see where the sport goes."
The Ferrari driver looks at the future picture of the sport: "I'm curious to see what the ideas are for the future because I do strongly believe moving forward, there needs to be changes for the weekend format or the way we go around media events and commitments because 24 races is going to be the limit or on the limit and to keep everyone's health, not only the drivers but mechanics and people that travel around is going to be important."