Last Updated on December 4 2023, 11:29 am

There has always been tension between the Formula One sport’s governing body and those who hold the commercial rights to the sport currently Liberty Media. The competition department of the EU Commission ruled in 2001 that the FIA must only regulate the sport and to prevent conflicts of interest it would have no say in the commercial exploitation of the Formula One Group (FOM).

That said, the Chinese wall that exists between the two at times is paper thin, particularly because the FIA receives a huge part of its income from Formula One in a complex structure set out in each Concorde agreement.

 

 

 

New FIA more active than ever

However, the bottom line is the FIA must set the sporting regulations, police them and rule on matters of health and safety. This season we saw a preciously unplanned change to the new ground effect regulations because Mercedes in particular petitioned the FIA that the bouncing the cars were suffering was ‘unsafe.’

Since the appointment of Mohamed ben Sulayem as president of the FIA, the relationship with FOM has deteriorated somewhat as the Emerati has adopted a more ‘hands on’ approach to F1 than his predecessor Jean Todt.

Ben Sulayem is a former rally driver and is the first FIA president to be appointed with no Formula One experience in over half a century. Again this irritated a number of the senior F1 figures and has done little to smooth the tensions which have emerged as the FIA has taken a more active role in Formula One.

Policing the white lines in full which delimit the racing surface has been a bone of contention and admittedly resulted in face at both the last runnings of the Austrian Grand Prix where over 100 infringements were reported to the stewards during the race.

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Andretti green light resisted by FOM

However, the FIA approval of an eleventh team in the form the Andretti Global Racing outfit has enraged team bosses on the whole and in turn the senior management at FOM.

The Andretti application has undergone a rigorous examination by the FIA officials and finally the green light was issued for them to compete within the sport. As yet FOM has failed to engage with Andretti who wish to race in 2025, but it appears they will be forced by the FIA if necessary to produce a commercial arrangement which includes Andretti in the prize fund allocation as are the present ten other teams.

Whilst this story rumbles on behind the scenes, the next flash point appears to be developing as the FIA have been asked to look at the F1 calendar from a health and safety perspective with a number of voices including drivers and team bosses complaining the schedule is making their staff unwell.

Of course FOM want to cram as many races into the year as possible and under the current Concorde agreement the teams agreed this maximum to be 24 as planned for next season.

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Drivers falling ill due to F1 schedule

Whilst the number of races is decided by FOM, the FIA may now rule from a health and safety perspective that the schedule must be adjusted and even restricted.

Drivers and staff have been complaining of the demands placed upon them towards the end of this season which featured five races in six weeks on three different continents. The back to back weekends to conclude the year saw the team members suffer a twelve hour time shift forwards as they made the dash from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi.

A number of the drivers fell ill over the closing rounds and the Vegas schedule with one track session finishing a 4am local time was indeed brutal.

Sergio Perez now in his fourteenth F1 season now claims the demands placed one everyone attending the races has “definitely been more than other years.”

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F1 attempt more efficient schedule for 2024

“I think this last part of the season has been super-intense with the travelling backwards and forwards. The amount of races is definitely at the limit, not just for the drivers but also for all the mechanics out there.”

FOM claims it is trying to group together better the races held in different regions of the world and for 2024 has made some modest improvements. The season begins with back to back races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia though the scheduling of these has been impacted by Ramadan.

The teams then have two weeks between each of the Australian, Japanese,  Chinese, Miami and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix before returning the following weekend to Monaco and on with the European schedule with a number of double and triple header weekends.

Whilst accepting that FOM have made an effort, perez believes they need to go further. “The schedule really has to be more efficient and try to look after everyone in this world a lot more,” said the Red Bull driver. “My main concern is some of my mechanics, really.”

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Perez demands quality schedule

With a record 24 events on the 2024 F1 calendar, Perez questions in some what of a coded fashion whether some of the races really deserve their place. “We just have to make sure that we keep delivering and we just don’t make a lot of races for the sake of doing them,” he said. “I think the quality level is still very important to have in the sport to make sure we keep this upward route.”

Whilst team bosses and drivers have raised concerns over the 2024 schedule since it was announced, Perez accepts there’s probably little that can be done to alleviate the pressure until 2025.

Historically the teams have little input into the schedule assembled by FOM yet now they are calling on the FIA to scrutinise FOM’s plans in greater detail.

“Obviously, it’s something that we’re going to raise up to try and see what can be done,” he said. “Probably now is late for next year, but for the year after to really try to maximise it.

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“People so exhausted”

“I remember seeing people so exhausted in the last race so I think it’s something that we’ve got to be taking very seriously because it’s important for the sport, for the drivers to obviously keep having this long careers that we’ve seen from the staff, from the mechanics, we want them to have very long careers as well. So I think it’s something we’ve got to consider.”

Sergio’s boss expressed his views on the matter when asked by Sky F1 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix whether it was too much to expect of the staff.

“This is five races in six weeks. So for the mechanics in the garage, for the travelling staff, it is a brutal end to the season.

“Of course, that’s a little accentuated by the time difference. We were effectively working in the Japanese time zone in Vegas, and then a 12-hour swing to come here.

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FIA asked to review F1 calendar

“So it’s something that’s been raised with Formula 1 and the FIA. Their personnel, they feel it as well, and I think solutions are being put in place to the future to take into account the toll that it does take on not just the staff, but all the travelling circus that is associated with Formula 1.”

Should the FIA rule to reduce the number of races before the next Concorde agreement kicks in for 2026, this would definitely spark a row between the likes of Ben Sulayem and Stefano Domenicali who earlier this year warned the FIA not to interfere with commercial decisions beyond their remit.

The FIA will argue they have created a break in the airman schedule which sees four races in five weeks from Zandvoort to Singapore. Then the teams have a month off before resuming for the final push of three back to back races – Austin, Mexico and Brazil before another two week break and the back to back final three events from Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

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