Sainz: drivers told 24 or 25 races is the calendar limit
Williams driver and GPDA director Carlos Sainz says the drivers' association has been told that 24 or 25 grands prix is the most the championship will accept, though he doubts it will hold. He also questioned whether back-to-back races dilute fan attention.
A ceiling, for now
How many races is too many? Carlos Sainz offered a window into the sport's thinking during the United States Grand Prix weekend. Speaking as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), the Williams driver said the drivers have been told that 24 or 25 races is the limit the championship is willing to go to.
He was not convinced the figure will stick. According to GPFans and PlanetF1, Sainz said he does not know whether it will hold, because new venues keep making offers to join the calendar.
The fan's view
Sainz spoke from two angles. As a fan, he said, he would welcome more racing on television. But he asked whether a packed schedule could be counterproductive, arguing that breaks help keep people engaged. PlanetF1 reports that he framed the question as the difference between the Premier League and the Champions League: a long run of consecutive races may mean each one gets less attention.
He described three triple-headers in a row as "tough for the body, tough for the people, tough for the mind", according to PlanetF1, while saying he personally has the motivation to race as many rounds as are needed.
The people behind the cars
The sharpest concern he raised was for team staff. Sainz said mechanics and engineers may be at home for only a few days each month, and that drivers are in a more privileged position than the people working in the garages and factories. PlanetF1 notes that the Concorde Agreement is understood to cap the calendar at 24 races, with the possibility of one more if teams agree, and that the general view in the paddock is that the current workload is about what the workforce can bear.
By the numbers
The 2026 season has so far run 18 rounds in our race data, with the Mexico City Grand Prix as round 19 this weekend. PlanetF1 puts the remainder of the year at nine grands prix over 11 race weekends, which is why the topic is so live. GPFans adds that the original 24-race plan was reduced after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was cancelled over safety concerns in the Middle East, so 2026 will not reach the maximum Sainz described.
What comes next
No change to the calendar has been announced. Sainz's remarks give a rare look at where the line sits in the conversation between drivers and the sport's organisers, and they come at a point in the season when fatigue is easy to see. The next test is the Mexico City weekend, which starts on Friday.
