Alonso calls for 'vital recovery' as 21,000-mile triple-header looms

Fernando Alonso has declared it "vital" travelling Alpine staff are allowed "to recover properly" as F1 faces its most daunting triple-header.

Over the past few years, drivers, teams and F1 personnel have been forced to cope with the addition of triple headers on the calendar.

But after the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled for a second successive year from its revised mid-November slot, F1 made a tweak to the schedule by deciding to add a new event in Qatar at the end of a run that also takes in Mexico and Brazil.

The number of air miles from a starting point of London's Heathrow, and for those fortunate enough to fly direct with every leg, is 20,780 and almost 43 hours flying time.

"We are familiar with this now as it’s been like this in the past few years of Formula 1," remarked Alonso when asked what it will take as a driver to cope with the next few weeks.

"The hardest thing will be the amount of travel in the next three weeks as it’s quite long distances between each race. Making sure you get some decent recovery and rest will be crucial to keep up the energy.

"In between races, we’ll be making sure to do all the right things to aid recovery after a weekend of racing.

"It’s also important that all of the staff get some time to recover, too. Everybody is working in a high-pressure environment during a race weekend, so it’s vital they’re given enough time to recover properly."

Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski has declared the upcoming triple-header as "exciting" but also recognises "it will be tough on the team and pose stringent logistical challenges".

Appreciating what is required to cope, Budkowski added: "It’s an important time of the year to remain close as a team, look out for one another during such a busy time and keep team spirit high."

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