AlphaTauri's Franz Tost sends warning over F1 calendar schedule

AlphaTauri Team Principal Franz Tost has warned Formula 1 that any further increase to the size of the calendar could see fans starting to lose interest in the sport.

F1 is set to race at 23 circuits this season, with that making it the longest calendar we have ever seen in the sport, and the hope has to be we get races just as exciting as last year in 2021.

However, Tost has warned that the sport risks seeing fans switching off if we don’t get the same levels of drama, because too many repetitive races will be boring:

“Last year, we were lucky because the races were very interesting, there were always fights, but we can’t expect that this will always be the case,” Tost said at the launch of the 2022 AlphaTauri.

“So, for me, 23 races is the absolute limit, not from the workload point of view, but because I am concerned that with such a high number of races, in the end, it could cause people to lose interest in Formula 1.”

It’s an interesting viewpoint.

More races should naturally be more exciting for fans but, of course, if we have too many processional Grands Prix then there is a risk some will lose interest.

2021 was great for reviving a lot of interest in the sport, though, and the new regulations for 2022 are aimed at building on that even further.

Let’s hope they succeed.