Season finale in Abu Dhabi
Final stress test for Formula 1
World champion Max Verstappen is struggling with the Formula 1 calendar planning. photo
© Andre Penner/AP/dpa
First night shifts in Las Vegas, now the finale in Abu Dhabi. Time difference twelve hours. That leaves traces. The Formula 1 drivers are also afraid.
The final week of Formula 1 brings the drivers with a twelve-hour time difference from Las Vegas Abu Dhabi once again pushed to its limits.
“Especially at the end of the season, when everyone is a bit tired, it’s a bit much,” emphasized world champion Max Verstappen (26) from Red Bull: “I’ll be completely lost in the time zone.”
In addition, the comeback in Las Vegas was partly driven late at night and the drivers and all the team employees had a different rhythm. This corresponded more closely to the Japanese time zone.
“I think we all fantasized and hallucinated a bit,” said Daniel Ricciardo (34) from Alpha Tauri, referring to the particularly late training shift in Las Vegas. The combination of the race in the Nevada desert with the Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates also presents a logistical challenge.
Some of the cargo was sent by ship after the race from Singapore in mid-September. Further material was transported from Mexico by air freight directly to Abu Dhabi at the end of October, and the rest left on Monday and Tuesday from Las Vegas, service provider DHL explained in response to a request from the German Press Agency.
The pilots are particularly worried when they look at the calendar for the coming year. 24 races are planned, more than ever before. And then three Grand Prix should be driven on three consecutive weekends at the end – starting with Las Vegas. From there it will continue to Qatar and Abu Dhabi. “It doesn’t get my vote,” said Ricciardo: “We will be destroyed.”