'5 days off in 85' - The reality of working in F1 as 2026 calendar takes brutal toll

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F1 News & Gossip

'5 days off in 85' - The reality of working in F1 as 2026 calendar takes brutal toll

The reality is not quite as glamorous

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Friday 4 September 2026 17:45

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Working in F1 may seem like the most glamorous of pursuits - travelling the globe all year round as part of a high-speed sporting circus which captures the attention of billions of fans worldwide.

The reality though can be very different for many of the staff who earn their living in the pit lane and paddock in 2026.

A calendar which now has the potential for 24 races every season means there is little to no downtime during what is a gruelling schedule.

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The reality of what that actually means was hammered home this week by former TV presenter and now High Performance Racing podcast host Jake Humphrey.

The 47-year-old former BBC F1 front man attended the recent Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, and says one conversation with a team employee really hit hard.

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Team member reveals grim reality

"I said to one of the team members: 'Monza next, an unbelievable race weekend, you must be buzzing for that' and he said 'we're not really buzzing for anything between now and the end of the season'.

"I said 'why?' and he said 'mate, now that they've brought in Malaysia, me and the guys are gonna get 5 days off in the next 85 days'."

Bringing the Bahrain Grand Prix back to life - to be held in Malaysia on the first weekend of October - means there are another 11 races between now and the end of the season in early December.

Triple headers, no weekends off

Humphrey laid out just what those team employees have signed up for as he continued: "So this is the sequence now. Monza to Madrid then Baku/Malaysia/Singapore triple header. Then Austin/Mexico/Sao Paulo triple header - that's eight Grands Prix in 10 weeks. Then Vegas, Qatar, Abu Dhabi to finish the season.

"And the reason why Malaysia is so significant, is that before Sepang was added, Baku was 24th to 26th September then Singapore 9th to 11th of October. So that left the weekend of 2nd to 4th of October empty - go home and see your families, catch your breath before the end of the season.

"Now Malaysia has filled that weekend and they're not gonna be going home."

'What about the human beings?'

Humphrey says amid all the excitement about title races, the human side of the sport cannot be forgotten: "I do feel that somewhere, someone high up at Formula 1 needs to go 'what about the human beings that are in these teams?'."

Former team principal Otmar Szafnauer emphasised the sheer impact of the calendar on staff, explaining: "It's not easy, especially triple headers. I remember when Chase Carey first came in with Liberty, he was the first CEO and Stefano has taken over from Chase.

"But I remember all the team principals saying: 'you know, look, it's okay for us to have more races - we understand why it generates revenue, but we can not have triple headers. No triple headers'.

"Then one triple header - 'okay, we can do one, but that's it'. How many do we have now? Three, that's hard. Triple headers are hard because you never go home in between."

Otmar Szafnauer says triple headers are brutal.

Mental health impact cannot be discounted

Humphrey believes this is a topic which needs to be addressed, he says it is not just about physical fatigue but also the potential impact on mental health.

"You know what? I'm I'm having more DMs and more conversations and more discussions with people in Formula 1 about mental health than ever before," he claimed.

"And these guys, mainly guys, there's women in the team as well, but the people I'm speaking to are often the mechanics that are grafting around the cars.

"They're parents, their they want to be at home and and often it's really impacting the mental health of a lot of people.

"Five days off in 85 days, mate."