The 2024 Formula 1 season is going to be the longest and busiest in the sport’s history.
For the first time ever, there will be 24 Grand Prix in an F1 campaign, with the teams jumping between five different continents.
Speaking on a team’s live stream ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, the current schedule is already being questioned by one driver.
It was becoming clear at the end of last season that several drivers were struggling to cope with the final double-header of the year, with many admitting they were ill at the end of the campaign.
The exciting but exhausting Las Vegas Grand Prix was immediately followed by the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The change in time zones was extreme and gave drivers, staff and the media very little time to acclimatise.
Williams driver Alex Albon has admitted he’s already tired and the schedule isn’t going to allow for him or his rivals to recover as often as he would like.
Races in Australia, Japan and then China appear to make sense on paper, but the two-week gap between the Grand Prix in Melbourne and Suzuka might have been counterproductive.
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Alex Albon admits he’s already tired due to ‘relentless’ schedule
It’s not been the easiest start to the season for Williams, with the team barely ready to take part in pre-season testing in Bahrain.
While they’re optimistic about their long-term goals, they’ve yet to score a point after three races this year.
Things went from bad to worse in Melbourne when their lack of a spare chassis forced them to drop Logan Sargeant from the race.
Although James Vowles praised him for his work behind the scenes, that’s not the role he’ll want to play again this season.
It’s not a surprise that Albon has shared how tired he is given the current schedule and the pressure is only growing on him and the rest of the team as the non-stop nature of Formula 1 makes delivering the upgrades they need incredibly difficult to do.
The beginning of the European leg will make those improvements easier to do, but the rest of the grid will be in the same position…
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Alex Albon discusses ‘relentless’ 2024 F1 calendar
Asked about this season’s calendar and the travel required, Albon said: “It’s relentless, especially as we’ve got this new schedule now where we’re kind of on paper being more eco-friendly.
“We’ve gone from Australia to Japan and then into China but because there’s a one-week break, it actually makes it quite awkward and we’re flying back to the UK to do simulator work and then flying back out again.
“It does mess up your time zones and your sleep quite badly and it’s something that, I am struggling a little bit, it’s a long season.
“It’s only race three and you’re going into race four and you’re already tired.”
The schedule doesn’t relent for Albon and his Formula 1 rivals for some time and the drivers that can deal with how tired they’ll be when it comes to the summer break could make all the difference.
Williams won’t have a spare chassis in Suzuka this weekend so Albon and Sargeant will both need to be at the top of their game to avoid another race starting with less than 20 cars.
That might also mean they end up driving more conservatively than they would like which isn’t an ideal scenario for Williams.
Considering the conditions are expected to be treacherous this weekend too, there’s plenty at stake for the Grove-based team.
The post ‘I am struggling’: 28-year-old driver admits he’s ‘already tired’ three races into ‘relentless’ 2024 F1 season appeared first on F1 Oversteer.