Against the backdrop of discussions between the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) related to concerns about the new schedule and drivers’ media commitments, Verstappen has suggested changes are needed.
Motorsport.com understands that the GPDA has written to F1 and the FIA to explain what drivers don’t like about the new format and how they think things can be changed to make it better for everyone.
It is understood that the drivers feel improvements can be made to the way they have to repeatedly answer the same questions from television crews, as well as the way the current timetable works before track action begins.
This relates to the change of approach to Thursdays and Friday, which were intended to help compress time at the track but appear to have made little impact.
F1 and the FIA have scrapped the formal Thursday media day for 2022 and shifted official press conferences to Friday morning in a bid to create a shorter three-day format.
However, drivers have been kept just as busy on Thursdays with other commitments and now face an extra long day on Friday thanks to the new morning press conference schedule and later running of sessions.
The timing of the press conferences has also proved to not be ideal for media, who have less content on Thursdays and find that a lot of the remarks made on Friday morning, with practice taking place immediately after, are wasted because they are timed out.
Speaking at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix about the driver concerns, Verstappen said: “I think it’s more about how we’re doing the press conferences and the media activities. I think it was better before.
“Now our Thursday is very long, which officially is not really a day anymore. But actually for us, it’s the same amount of you, or even more on a Thursday, and even more now on a Friday, where you come in early.
“Coming in early is not a problem, but your whole day is longer. So going to more races, you would like to have a shorter weekend.
“But actually now, with…
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