F1 championships are increasingly longer, and drivers are forced to cover a large number of kilometres. Here is the exact data.
The 2024 F1 World Championship has begun under the sign of Red Bullwhich has literally dominated in this first phase of the year. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have scored three doubles in four raceswith the world champion not yet on the run in the world championship only due to his retirement in Australia, which opened the door to a double Ferrari.
Certainly, the Modenese Scuderia is the best surprise of all at the start of the championship, being shown off as the second force, at a distance from the RB20 which has been halved compared to last year’s enormous gap.
McLaren is clearly growing and we are sure that little by little it will be part of the gamebut there have already been some good responses, with third place by Lando Norris in Australia and also his pole position for the Shanghai Sprint Race.
Sprints are a much discussed topic in F1 today, since it was decided to run as many as six per season, and this has already been the case since last year. This has significantly influenced the number of kilometers traveled in a year, which is very high indeed. Let’s try to take stock and give you a number, even if approximate, of km that are traveled in a season.
F1, impressive mileage figure
F1 is a sport where racing takes place almost all year round, with this championship starting in early March and ending only in December. Well, calculating that each race lasts approximately 308 km, we can say that over 7,300 km are covered from the Sunday GPs alonebut it is clear that this data must then also be integrated with the six Sprint Races and also with the various test and qualifying sessions.
On average, the duration of a Sprint Race is 100 km each, and considering that there are six per season, this amounts to a total of approximately 8,000 km traveled by the pilots in a year.
Furthermore, we must not forget that in F1 there is a lot of lapping even in free practice and qualifying, fundamental sessions for the progress of the race weekend. In free practice, in particular, many kilometers are accumulated, with various data being collected and which are fundamental for establishing the best set-up with which to tackle the race.
Also considering the tests, which are not many, but which still add further road to be done, approximately we can say that a driver can cover more than 10,000 km per year, a crazy fact, which makes us understand how trained and physically ready they must be. At this point, we refer you to our next articles for any curiosity, and we are sure that you will appreciate every aspect of this wonderful sport. There is no shortage of complications and criticism for too long calendars, but this is now the direction we have taken.
