Jet lag, session postponements, night races… Does F1 put the health of drivers at risk?

Yes, the Las Vegas Grand Prix will still get a lot of attention. The return of the F1 in Sin City got off to a very bad start this Friday, with EL1 interrupted then canceled after only 10 minutes, because of a manhole which came loose under Carlos Sainz's car at the start of the session. Yet another problem which adds to the more than cold reactions – and we are not talking about the temperatures in the city once night falls – from the pilots towards the new American round.

Main concern: rest time for drivers, engineers, mechanics, managers and all team staff. As we come to the end of a marathon schedule – we are on the 21st race weekend out of 22 planned – bodies are starting to get tired. The board has just come out of a triple headers, with an Austin – Mexico – Interlagos sequence. Two weeks earlier, all the pilots had suffered from the heat in Qatar, some had even lost consciousness at the end of the Grand Prix.

And the worst is yet to come: all the driving sessions in Las Vegas are scheduled at night... and we will have to do it again next Friday, in Abu Dhabi, where the time difference between the United States and the United Arab Emirates is 12 hours, with 21 hours of flight! Not to mention the fact that EL2 of the Las Vegas Grand Prix was postponed to 2:30 a.m. on site due to the accident Sainz, an unprecedented event in Formula 1…

The dissatisfied but resigned pilots: “It’s a difficult sport, it’s not football”

Obviously, all this sporting pressure, but also media pressure, weighs on the shoulders of the 20 drivers on the grid. Asked at a press conference about the fatigue and jet lag that pilots experience in a very short time, some showed their dissatisfaction. “No, it’s not okay, it’s not okay. But that's how it is, it's a difficult sport. It’s not football”, split Fernando Alonso.

Others, like Nico Hulkenberg ou Guanyu-Zhou, simply underline the “challenge” that this busy schedule represents. “The time difference will be significant and we will probably face that [in Abu Dhabi]. Some suffer more than others. It will be a challenge and maybe we won't feel very fit on Friday or Saturday, but I think it's the same for all of us and we have to manage and cope as best we can. can », said the pilot Haas.

A program that forces pilots to adopt new habits, explains Pierre Gasly. “So far I have no problem with jet lag. I fell asleep at 6am last night and woke up at 14pm so that was good. But next week it will be a big challenge. I try to follow my jet lag plan as much as possible.

“We are supported by doctors, coaches, etc. Everyone is doing their best to give us the best preparation possible.he adds. We don't deal with jet lag the day we get here. Last week, when I was in Paris, I was already preparing for this week. In my life, this is going to be the first time I've gone from one side of the globe to the other in a matter of days, so I don't really know how I'll feel, but I know I have my strategy in place and I will try to stick to it as much as possible. »

All this nevertheless raises the question of considering the health of the drivers at the end of the season. With already 20 Grands Prix (and 6 Sprint Races) under their belts, what physical and mental state will the drivers be in on Sunday, at the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix?

If they are professional athletes and we do not doubt their abilities to withstand this type of ordeal, they are not helped by F1 which, in a purely economic interest, puts the health of the drivers second. plan. We had a first example in Qatar at the beginning of October, and we are preparing to experience it again this weekend. Until when ? Should we wait for the irreparable to change? Quickly, we must react!

ALSO READ > VIDEO – The impressive impact of Sainz's Ferrari on the manhole in Las Vegas