Renault admits Formula 1’s busy new 2020 calendar is “harsh” but “needs to be done” to maintain the sport’s value.
This weekend, the new championship finally gets underway almost four months later than planned with what will the first back-to-back races at one circuit in F1 history at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.
That is just the start of what will see an initial total of eight Grands Prix in just 10 weeks with more expected to be announced soon.
But while it is expected to be a tough period for all involved, following a prolonged break, Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul believes it will be worth it.
“That F1 has been able to come with a very structured response, including from a safety perspective with a sense of constraint associated, is good,” said the Frenchman via The Race.
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“It will be very challenging for the team, after already a period that has been demanding for anyone, then move into a period that’s going to be challenging for all the mechanics, engineers, that will have to leave their family for almost a month.
“Then another month when we get into the next triple-header and there are probably more of these to come later in the season.
“It’s a harsh price to pay, but we all know that sacrifices are to be made in F1 if you want to compete and for some of us without the satisfaction of the result, the reward of the result, which is even harder.
“But it’s a necessity for our sport to exist this year and to remain strong in the year to come.
“Keeping in mind that the target for F1 is to maintain our overall value post-crisis and that is what needs to be done this year.”
But while F1’s overall ambition is to put together a 15-18 race schedule ending in Abu Dhabi in December, uncertainty over how the coronavirus pandemic will evolve come the Autumn has McLaren issuing this warning.
“I think the caution is we’re going racing, but I don’t think there’s a guarantee that we’re going to get in as many races as we hope,” CEO Zak Brown told the F1 Nation Podcast.
“I think we will, but I don’t think that just because we’re going to race one that life’s back to normal, so I think we have to be very careful, very diligent, follow the rules, be very conservative.”
