Max Verstappen’s mechanic thinks all F1 teams will start doing one thing after ‘insane’ 2024 season

The 2024 Formula 1 season has been one of the longest in the history of the championship, with 24 races across five continents.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has been open to adding more races to the calendar, while it looks likely that some on the current lineup could drop off by 2026 including Max Verstappen’s favourite the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Spa Francorchamps could also drop off in the future if an agreement beyond their current contract is not found, while a brand new street circuit in Madrid is set to replace Barcelona.

Most of the tracks on the current 24-race calendar have contracts that extend beyond 2025, although it does not rule out there being an expansion in the future.

Discussing the impact of the calendar on the Road to Success podcast, Max Verstappen’s mechanic at Red Bull, Callum Nicholas, has explained one measure most teams will need to implement in the future.

F1 teams will need to rotate staff according to Red Bull mechanic

Nicholas works as a wheel gunner on Verstappen’s car during race weekend, helping generate Red Bull’s record pit stops during the season.

Mechanics often work long hours and travel a lot, which can induce a lot of jet lag in the workforce. Nicholas believes more teams will need to introduce staff rotations in the future to keep up everyone sharp for race weekends.

“I don’t want to do any more. Some teams have already introduced staff rotation, I think that’s going to become necessary for pretty much every team in the future,” said Nicholas.

“For me and looking at this season, by the time you have done pre-season testing, the odd tyre testing in the middle, the Abu Dhabi test at the end of the season, you’re away for the best part of 200 days a year. So you are really close with everyone.”

“It’s tough, I always struggle when I fly east to America. That’s tough, it put me down for a day. Then Australia is a killer because you’re there for a week. When we did Australia at the beginning of this year, then came home, then back to Japan, then came home, and China. That stint of jetlag was insane.”

F1 to group together races regionally for 2026 and beyond

Several races will be grouped together from the 2026 season onwards to ease the travel burden for teams.

F1 is also bound to meet certain net zero targets by 2030 as part of the FIA’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, which includes travel on the calendar.

The 2026 season will see races across Oceania and the Middle East grouped, before a brief switch to Asia and then through to the first US leg of the season.

They will then go to Europe for most of the middle of the season, before switching to the flyaway races for the rest of the year.