Magnussen "feels worse" for race staff as third triple-header looms

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen has expressed his sympathy for the behind-the-scenes staff as Formula 1 heads into its third triple-header.

The impact of Covid-19 has forced F1 to condense its calendar, with 17 races now confirmed for this season following the addition this week of a race in Turkey, two in Bahrain and one in Abu Dhabi.

After starting the campaign with two sets of triple-headers, F1 now embarks on a third, starting with Spa this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix, followed by races in Italy at Monza and Mugello.

Magnussen concedes to having no issues personally with the schedule but is concerned for the mechanics and engineers and the toll the long days and weeks might be having on them.

“Honestly, for me as a driver, I don’t feel like it’s a massive thing," said Magnussen. "Of course, it’s busy and we’re away a lot right now, and with all these triple-headers we don’t really get to see our families.

"But we were all together for a few months during the lockdown. I missed racing, I missed Formula One hugely, so I’ve enjoyed being back like this with the intensity of all these races together. It’s been good to be driving again and getting into racing.

"I feel worse for the mechanics as they work really, really long hours during the weekends. They then have to work on the cars between races as well. The engineers also work really hard.

"As drivers, we have less to do. Yes, there’s a lot of meetings and analysing data, but we don’t go to work every day. We show up at the weekends having had some meetings during the week.

"It’s not as intense as it is for the rest of the team. We’re very lucky in that sense, but of course, we then take the risks on track and all the rest, but I do feel worse for the team with this schedule.”

Team principal Guenther Steiner has again stressed that F1 should not attempt to replicate the current situation on future calendars.

“We have to treat this as an exceptional year," insisted Steiner. "A lot of the staff did not work for much of the first half of the year, so they could fill their energy tanks up. So, I think it’s a little bit lighter.

"But going forward, you cannot make this the normality. People cannot do this. We shouldn’t try to do this because it’s not productive.”

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