According to sporting director Steve Nielsen, F1 triple-headers are currently being seen as “less scary” after the 2021 season.
Triple-headers were almost entirely slammed by fans in 2021. Although it provides viewers with more races, it is a nightmare to navigate for teams and drivers.
Across the COVID-infected years, triple-headers have become almost essential to get races out of the way quickly. It is a double-edged sword, and it is fast becoming a subject of debate and discussion.
However, Nielsen insisted that triple-headers are being seen as “less scary” after the 2021 season, saying they have adjusted themselves to it.
“It’s important to us and it’s important to the teams not to start the season earlier than we do,” he said, as quoted by GP Fans.
“It’s important to us and the teams not to start the season or end the season later than we do. It’s a bit of maths.”
Logistics
“We’ve got the number of races we want to do. We want to keep the August break intact for all the travelling people in F1. That’s the majority of views of the teams,” he continued.
“When you do that, you have a start point in mid-late March and you have a finish point hopefully at the end of November, and you have a two-week break in August. You have to do a triple-header at some point.
“Now we can’t do triple-headers without the teams agreeing. They understand the pressures to do it, (but) I think it’s becoming easier.
“I have spoken to several (teams), and it’s becoming I think less of a scary prospect than perhaps it first was when we did it a couple of years ago.
“Formula 1 is very good at adapting and a triple-header will fall into that category and they will find new and easier ways of working,” he concluded.
Read more: F1 relieved after completing hectic 2021 schedule – “A blessed relief for all of us”