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Former Red Bull man and sister team's leader Franz Tost has lashed out at complaints over a 24-race calendar. The F1 calendar has continued to expand in the last decade or so, but the last few years have seen an accelerated expansion in the number of races in a season.
The number has gone from around 16-17 in the early 2000s to 24, which has led to complaints from all corners. For F1, the more races/events it can organize over a season, the more revenue it would produce. There's a problem here, though, and that revolves around the kind of travelling team members have to do between races.
The number of triple headers has increased over the years, which has led to added stress on drivers and team personnel. Former Red Bull man Franz Tost, though, feels that the complaints are nonsensical. Pointing out how while the number of races over a season has increased, there are other areas where there have been significant reductions.
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Before the in-season testing ban, teams would test their car throughout the season, and there would be no off-days, now there are limits on what the teams can do in terms of testing and car development as well. Quashing suggestions of overload, Tost said at the SPORT MARKE MEDIEN event:
"I think 24 races is perfectly fine. People always say that mechanics are overloaded. This is a total joke. They are not overloaded at all. In my time, we had a race on the weekend, and, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we continued with tests.
"In the beginning, we even used two cars, and it was always the same technicians and engineers. I never heard any complaints from them at that time."
He added:
"There's a curfew in Formula 1 now, which means you stop working at 9pm. Goodbye, see you the next morning at 8am. Jesus, what more do they want?! They get to work in Formula 1, it's a privilege.
"The whole work-life balance, all this sh*t, it's totally pointless. You don't need something like that. It's something for people who are too lazy to work."
Red Bull man advocates for 26 races over a season
Franz Tost went even further as he suggested that the F1 calendar could even have as many as 26 races in a season, as there are 52 weeks in a year.
It must be noted that Red Bull boss Christian Horner, Tost's former counterpart at the team has cautioned the increase in the number of races in the past. In a subtle hint alluding to his former Red Bull counterpart, Tost said:
"You have to do as many races as possible. It could be 26. There are 52 weeks in a year, so every other week would make sense. And I'm not saying that now because I'm retired. I've always said that.
"I also always had heated discussions with my ex-colleagues. They said: 'That's way too much, 18 to 20 races is the maximum.' I always asked: 'What are you actually? Are you a racing team or a holiday team?'"
Franz Tost was a long-time team principal at Red Bull's sister team in different guises. He retired from the sport last season and was replaced by Peter Bayer at Racing Bulls.
