To reduce the workload of the drivers, Formula 1 eliminated for the 2022 season the media attention day of the grand prix Thursdays, moving it to Friday morning. In this way, a day of greater tranquility was given to the protagonists of the World Cup and they took advantage of the fact that on Friday they did go to the track (for free practice) so that they could attend to the press and television there.
However, after the first samples of the course, which has already experienced four grand prizes, it has been shown that the format does not work for almost anyone.
For the media (and therefore fans, who thrive on information), on Thursdays there is less content, and on Fridays at the press conferences the drivers talk about issues that often ‘expire’ two hours later. What value in time does it have for a team to talk about how they look very fast and reliable on the circuit that weekend if shortly after, in FP1, they show that there is neither pace in short and long runs, nor reliability ?
What is talked about in those press conferences on Friday generally has little travel, because they are very close to the ‘restart’ that each new grand prix entails and in turn is already further from the previous one. We could start from the basis that these statements are normally not of much interest, but that is another topic…
Going back to how little compressed weekends work, Max Verstappen revealed that it doesn’t work for the drivers either, and that in fact, rather than reducing their workload, it has increased it. Now they have other commitments on Thursdays, which prevent them from resting, and on Fridays they face a longer day as they have to attend to the press in the morning.
In addition, the F1 drivers’ association ( GPDA ) wrote a letter to senior officials in the series expressing its frustration and asking for changes.
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At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen declared: “I think that the matter of press conferences and activities with the media was better before.”
“Now, our Thursday is very long, and in theory it’s not officially a Grand Prix day anymore, but the reality is that there are still the same number of journalists or even more on Thursdays at the circuit, and then early Friday. we have to keep going.”
“Arriving early is not a problem, but the whole day gets longer. So as we have more races, we would like to have a shorter weekend. Because now, as well as more grands prix, we also have longer weekends. So that has to change.”
The one from Red Bull also put on the table the problem that by attending to so many different media, in the end the drivers say the same thing on numerous occasions in just a short while, and suggested that the statements be to more microphones at the same time.
“We do the press conference, then we go outside and we have to talk to all the televisions individually. And they all ask the same question, so basically you repeat yourself six or seven times. You try to keep the interest to try to formulate it in a way different, but, in the end, you say the same thing”.
“What you see in other sports, when they have a press conference, there are a lot of microphones together. And actually, instead of giving the journalists just two questions each, they all ask six, eight or 10 questions of once, and everyone can broadcast them”.
“So I think that too would be a lot more efficient and positive for everyone, and get a lot more out of the drivers,” he concluded.
Formula 1 is in time to back down on the new format or make further adjustments. We have only had four races in a season that is going to be very long with, if the canceled Russian GP is replaced, up to 23 tests.
