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Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix
Photo: Mark Sutton / imago images / Motorsport Images
The questionable sporting two-lap race on Sunday in Spa, Belgium, moved the minds.
But in the background, Formula 1 is wrestling with a much bigger issue: a modified calendar for the current season.
The racing series is being forced to do this by the corona pandemic, and races have already had to be canceled.
Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali had decided on the sidelines of the twelfth Grand Prix with the team bosses to say goodbye to the 23 races originally planned for the season, now one event should be less enough for the financially troubled Formula 1.
The shrinking of the calendar provides a certain relief, especially for the smaller teams.
This means that there will be fewer so-called triple headers - i.e. three races on three consecutive weekends - which are particularly stressful due to the logistical effort.
Even if no team manager officially wants to say anything about the high workload on employees and thus oppose the expansion plans of the Formula 1 bosses, some teams that do not have enough staff to switch their crews are undoubtedly concerned about what is expected of the mechanics.
Even at regular times, without Corona and with 21 races, the stress was noticeable: High numbers of illnesses in the paddock during and at the end of the long overseas tour at the end of the season were not uncommon.
There are no longer any cheap racing concessions
For the overseas races, the teams now have to get their sea freight on the way. As a first step, it was therefore decided that the US Grand Prix in Austin would continue as the start of the overseas tour on October 24th. The idea of holding two races in Texas in view of the cancellations from Japan and Australia, however, was dropped. The organizer there is not in a position to pay for two races; the owners of Liberty Media want to have financially profitable events in their program again this season. The cheap concessions that were negotiated in 2020 in order to be able to drive anywhere at all are no longer an issue.
In detail, the new calendar now looks like this: The dates for Zandvoort (September 5th), Monza (September 12th) and Sochi (September 26th) remain unchanged.
Then the first change follows.
Turkey is slipping back a week, from October 3rd to October 10th.
Background: According to internal information from Formula 1, Turkey should no longer be on the red corona list of Great Britain by then.
The seven teams based there would then no longer have to be in a ten-day and cost-intensive hotel quarantine.
Should Turkey remain on the red list, the route in Mugello, Italy, will be the first replacement option.
Then it goes on with Austin - the race is no longer part of a triple header, but stands alone - with a two-week break before and after.
For this, Mexico and Brazil should each move a week back - Brazil itself had pushed for this move, because the race is on a Sunday before a national holiday on November 15th.
The organizers hope that this will generate more income.
The Central and South American doubles are to be combined with a third race a week later, but no venue has yet been determined.
And here Formula 1 threatens a political problem.
After Saudi Arabia, Qatar is also vying for Formula 1
Because it is an open secret that there are negotiations with Qatar about hosting a race in Doha.
This is explosive in so far as the already often criticized amalgamation of sport with the emirate has been given a new component through Qatar's role in the Taliban's takeover of power in Afghanistan.
Formula 1 has already agreed on a race with Saudi Arabia and now another country could come on the calendar that has been criticized for massive violations of human rights.
Many are wondering how that fits together with the self-emphasized “We race as one” image of Formula 1, with the claim to integration and the support of diversity, and how the teams and drivers actually want to appear in these countries.
The damage could still be immense for Formula 1.
Should it not work out with Qatar, another race in Bahrain would be possible instead. This country is also not on the red corona list of the British and thus the actual goal of a smooth return of the British teams before the World Cup final would have been achieved. The dates of Jeddah and Abu Dhabi as the end of the season on the first two December weekends will remain unchanged for the time being.