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F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali dismissed criticism from Max Verstappen about the 24-race calendar.
Back in 2023, the sport announced that it would be hosting a whopping 24 Grand Prix in the 2024 season. This was the most amount of races F1 has ever hosted in a single year.
However, this sheer size of the race calendar sparked debate in the F1 paddock. Many team members and drivers, including defending world champion Max Verstappen, voiced their concern over the race calendar being crammed. Before the 2024 F1 season began, the Red Bull star stated that the calendar was going 'over the limit'.
Fast forward to April 2024, the race calendar for the 2025 season was announced, featuring 24 races yet again. F1's CEO Stefano Domenicali told Sky F1 that 24 races were optimal for the sport to flourish in popularity across the globe.
He explained how he announced the calendar for 2025 earlier than usual and that they have once again tried to regionalize the races to make the sport more sustainable.
“I think 24 is an optimal number with the events we have so far. The good news this year, I took it as a responsibility from the teams and to the promoter to announce the calendar much earlier than we normally do in order for everyone to be ready," Domenicali said (via RacingNews365).
"That’s been another step in the direction of trying to regionalise the calendar. We cannot do it completely but I think that we did the right step, so [I'm] very happy with that,” he added.
Max Verstappen feels 24 races in each F1 season is "way over the limit"
Before starting the 2024 F1 season, Max Verstappen talked about how F1's season calendar is too saturated and is not sustainable. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the Red Bull star clarified that though he loved racing in F1, he also wanted to indulge in other projects.
"I feel that we're already way over the limit of races. This is not sustainable," Verstappen said.
"I love racing a lot and I do it a lot, also outside of Formula 1, but at one point you start looking into the quality of life and how much you are away for doing this sport, and at one point I prefer to just be at home and focus on other projects because this is crazy," he added.
In the past, Max Verstappen had also hinted that he could leave F1 sooner rather than later if he did not feel motivated to race in the sport or if the calendar continues to expand.
