AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has urged Formula 1 to reduce the length of its calendar ahead of the sport’s longest ever schedule.
The 2022 F1 calendar features a record 23 races, running from March to November. The return of the Qatar Grand Prix next year is due to increase the schedule even further.
However Tost warned F1 cannot expect there will always be as much appetite for races as there was during last year’s closely-fought world championship fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
“Last year, we were lucky because the races were very interesting, there were always fights, but we can’t expect that this will always be the case,” said Tost.
“So, for me 23 races is the absolute limit, not from the workload point of view, but because I am concerned that with such a high number of races, in the end it could cause people to lose interest in Formula 1.
“For me, the best number would be between 18 and 20 races because Formula 1 should be a premium product…