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Feb.19 (GMM) Former F1 team boss Franz Tost has lashed out at the growing consensus in the sport that the calendar has become far too inflated with its 24 grands prix.
While the drivers travel in 5-star style, many believe the schedule has become unacceptably arduous for the bulk of F1’s personnel – like the mechanics.
Tost, who stepped down as Alpha Tauri boss at the end of 2023, stridently disagrees.
“People always say that the mechanics are overworked,” he told Sport Marke Medien. “That’s a total joke. They are not overworked at all.
“I think 24 races is totally ok,” the 69-year-old Austrian added.
Tost said that when he entered Formula 1 in the 90s, supporting Ralf Schumacher, the schedule was actually much more arduous than it is today.
“We had the race at the weekend and we tested on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,” he recalls. “At the beginning we even had two (test) cars. And it was always the same mechanics and engineers. I never heard a complaint from them back then.
“Now, there is a curfew in Formula 1, which means that it’s over at 9 in the evening until 8am the next day. Jesus! What more do they want? They get to work in Formula 1 – that’s a privilege.
“This whole work-life balance, all this crap, it’s totally pointless. You don’t need anything like that. It’s something for people who are too lazy to work.”
Some suggest Formula 1 should actually return the days of intense on-track testing, complemented by a calendar featuring fewer races.
“If you say you have to test, that’s an old way of thinking,” Tost hits back. “You don’t have to test at all. Testing is the most pointless thing ever.
“It’s just a tool for the engineers so they can play around. It’s all pointless. The money is earned at the races. The more races you do, the more money Formula 1 makes.”
Tost thinks F1 could even expand the calendar beyond its unprecedented 24 grands prix per season.
“The year has 52 weeks,” he said. “Every other week would make sense. There could be 26 races.
“And I’m not saying that now because I’m retired. I’ve always said that before too. I always had heated discussions with my former colleagues. They said ‘That’s far too much – 18 to 20 races in the maximum’.
“I always asked them ‘What are you? Are you a racing team or a holiday team?’”
