Carlos Sainz Jnr, McLaren, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2019

Sainz: Yes to Miami Grand Prix, no to 25-race calendar

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In the round-up: Carlos Sainz Jnr doesn’t think the F1 calendar should expand to 25 races, which will become the maximum number of rounds in 2021.

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What they say

The 2020 F1 calendar will have 22 races and another race in Miami could be added the year after, which Sainz has mixed feelings about:

I like Miami, I’ve been there before and I enjoy it so I would be open to race racing in Miami.

But I wouldn’t be open to a 25-race calendar.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Nico Hulkenberg appears to be heading for the F1 exit. Is it deserved?

Grosjean has 10 podiums at least three of which were in cars no better than a Racing Point and certainly one in a car that was dreadful. Magnussen scored one on the only chance he had a car capable of it. Perez scored podiums in the same car as Hulkenberg. Stroll scored a podium in a car that was inferior to Hulkenberg’s on the only chance he got. Kvyat has scored podiums in good (Red Bull) and bad (Toro Rosso – in 2019) cars. I’d go as far as to say that apart from Stroll (or maybe on a damp fast track), all of said drivers are probably as fast as Hulkenberg on one lap.

OK, some of them have got a reputation for not being as stable and regular, but I’d actually argue some have cars that are difficult to drive compounding the matter. And of course, all of them will retire with a podium story to talk about.

I do wish Hulkenberg could do so too.
@Tango

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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11 comments on “Sainz: Yes to Miami Grand Prix, no to 25-race calendar”

  1. I hope more drivers and teams come out against this bloated calender and qualifying change.

  2. I share the same sentiments with the COTD. I also hope for that, but unfortunately doesn’t look highly likely to happen as he’s already categorized himself out of contention for the remaining Williams-drive while Gio has the upper-hand in the race for the remaining Alfa Romeo-drive.

    Re Jalopnik-post: While I can, to an extent, understand if a team doesn’t be in favor of their drivers getting asked for a particular topic, it’d still be polite to at least let the person asking finish his question/sentence, and only then inform of the potential desire.

  3. Maybe they should start thinking about giving the teams some choice about which races they go to in future with the increasing number of Grand Prix they want to put on the calendar because you cannot expect the mechanics to constantly work, travel, work, travel for a 9 month period and never really having a home life. Other sports allow competitors to have flexibility in their schedule, there is no reason for F1 to be any different.

    And all of Grosjean’s podiums except for 2015 Belgium were with a car that in the right hands could have been a title contender, Hülkenberg has driven nothing better than the Force India’s of 2014 to 2016 but despite this he has consistently finished in the top 10 of the drivers championship, this makes him a better performer than most other drivers on the grid. If he leaves F1 without any podium finishes it won’t be through a lack of trying or talent.

    1. Well he certainly tries, but I’d have to say his mistakes in the past few years for Renault have cost him. I am thinking about Baku twice rather than Germany this year.

      I thought after his second half of 2013 with Sauber, he was one of the fastest guys on the grid, but that speed hasn’t exactly been as I expected since then.

      Totally deserving of at least one token podium though. If only it could still happen.

  4. brig back estoril in f1 not miami another street circiut

  5. If you did a poll of everyone that’s actually involved in F1 I would be pretty certain than well over 90% of them would against more than 20 races.

    The push to 20-25 is purely commercial & been pushed by people at Liberty who not only don’t go to half the races but also don’t even watch them because there not necessarily actually fans of the sport.

    I remember when they went to 18/19 races in 2004/05, At the time the extra 1-2 races didn’t seem like too big a deal from the outside but I know a lot of guys felt that so I can’t even begin to imagine how brutal a 20-25 race season is/will be.

    It’s super easy to be a fan sitting at home dedicating just a few hours over a weekend sitting on a sofa watching on a TV & saying ‘Oh 20-25 ain’t so bad’ but you have no idea how hard that travel schedule is & will never know unless you do it. And I guarantee that most of those who think it’s no issue, a dream job etc.. would be through with it after half a season if they ever did it. It can be brutal, Far more so than any of you will likely ever realize.

    Oh & the ‘3 day weekend’ ain’t going to make any real difference because they will still fly to & from the track on the same days to get everything setup.

    1. I agree. I think if you asked fans and team
      members it would be about 80% in favour of less races.

      I think the teams and drivers need to keep challenging on this point. All that’s going to happen is people will stop watching the whole season. Then they might stop watching all together.

      I already get earache for watching something around 18/19 race. With most of these being just the highlights!

  6. Very nicely articulated CotD, @tango

    1. Thanks. And thanks @keithcollantine to have corrected the dreadful spelling mistake at the end. Nice touch :D. I’d like to add that I do believe during a full season Hulk is probably a better point scorer than all the aforementioned drivers. But unfortunately that’s probably not what we will remember in 20 years time. Anyways he still has three tries so here’s to hope.

  7. I feel we already have too many races. I’m an all or nothing person really and when we had 16 races I was able to commit to watching every session without fear of divorce. Nowadays, watching F1 with dedication requires giving a large portion of the weekend between March and December which, is just unrealistic as a husband and father. As such, I don’t watch at all anymore. It’s a shame but there it is. Over saturation as a symptom of greed is something that is permeating all aspects of life these days and I feel duty bound to resist for the sake of normality.

    1. I agree. See my comment above on an earlier post. 18-20 would be best in my opinion. NO more.

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