Max Verstappen told reporters at Interlagos on Thursday that he would rather Formula 1 ran fewer than 24 Grands Prix a year, lending a champion’s voice to a driver pushback that has been building through the autumn triple-headers.

“I for sure wish that it was less than 24, but at the same time, of course, I understand the reasons behind why we are having 24 races,” the Dutchman told crash.net at the São Paulo Grand Prix media day.

The 2026 championship was set for 24 rounds, but has been running at 23 since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April was called off because of the conflict in the Middle East. São Paulo is round 20.

Verstappen said the grid now travels to significantly more races than when he arrived in Formula 1, he recalled seasons of “17 or 18” rounds, and told crash.net that the strain is less about the racing itself and more about being away from his family for weeks at a time, adding that the calendar is simply something the drivers now have to accept.

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Alonso: ‘borderline to be too many’

Fernando Alonso made a similar argument on the same media day. The Spaniard told crash.net that the current format is “borderline to be too many” and that the logistics no longer add up.

“To be in Brazil now and go back to Europe and in 10 days go to Vegas, it’s a big thing for this part of the season. But it’s the way it is, I don’t think there is a solution in place,” Alonso said.

The paddock is in the middle of a punishing autumn, with São Paulo the third race in four weeks after Austin and Mexico City, and Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi still to come.

Sainz warns of a ‘Premier League’ problem

A little over a week earlier, Carlos Sainz had warned on behalf of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) that the sheer volume of races risks diluting the product.

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“The sport can maybe feel a bit like a league, like Premier League rather than Champions League,” Sainz told PlanetF1 at the end of October, saying audiences sometimes need to miss the racing to stay engaged.

Sainz said the bigger burden falls on team staff rather than drivers, and that the GPDA had been told 24 to 25 races is the ceiling the championship is willing to go to, a figure he described as already at the upper limit of what the sport can absorb. Under the Concorde Agreement that governs F1’s commercial side, the calendar can feature a maximum of 24 races, with a facility for one more.

São Paulo, the 20th round of a 23-race season, runs on Sunday. Three rounds are scheduled after Interlagos, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, though crash.net notes that uncertainty remains over whether the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races will go ahead amid the instability in the Middle East.

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