George Russell has expressed his support for a potential ban regarding staff and the number of races they’re allowed to work at.
Russell believes that for 2024 it’s not “sustainable” to have the same team staff members attending every race, given that next season will consist of a record-breaking 24 races.
The Mercedes driver shared that just in his garage alone last weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there were several sick mechanics, due to how demanding the constant travelling has been this year.
The last two weeks have been challenging enough for the entire paddock, as they had to fly to Las Vegas and adjust to their time zone, before flying to Abu Dhabi ahead of last weekend.
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It was arguably the most gruelling double-header of the season in terms of the different time zones, leaving some F1 staff with “confused” bodies.
Even some drivers complained of feeling tired, despite the fact they travel in luxury.
The drivers all fly to races either in first class or by private jet, a luxury team personnel and mechanics don’t have.
Russell openly recognises that the drivers flying everywhere in first class are in a “very fortunate position” but that it’s not right for other staff members to be flying to every race.
The 25-year-old fully supports the “talks” of F1 regulating how many races each staff member can attend, something he’s hailed as being a “good thing”.
“We have it best from every single person in this paddock, the way we travel,” Russell explained, as reported by the Daily Express.
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“We’re in a very fortunate position. But everybody up and down the paddock, I’ve got so many mechanics who are ill.
“People [are] in the engineers’ office just really struggling with the constant timezone shifts, the body not knowing where you are, eating at different times, staying in different hotels, different environments, different climates. The body’s getting confused.
“I think there are talks for next year about personnel being regulated that they can’t do every single race. I think that would be a good thing.
“I don’t think it’s sustainable to 4,000 people, I think to do 24 races a season. Especially when you see how geographically [diverse the calendar is], it still doesn’t make a huge amount of sense.”