Formula One needs at least 16 races for a proper championship this year, but eight doubleheader weekends would do if the COVID-19 pandemic limits options, Nico Rosberg said on Wednesday.
The regulations demand a minimum of eight races, but the German, who beat Mercedes teammate and now six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 title, told reporters more were needed for credibility.
“I would love to see eight doubleheaders at the very least so we get 16 races, because statistically, of course, the fewer races you have, the more likely that it is an outsider is going to be world champion,” Rosberg said.
Photo: Reuters
“If the favorite like Lewis Hamilton has a stroke of bad luck, that could really switch things round, which is not great, because for a championship you want to take away luck as much as possible,” he said.
“You want to have it as wide and as big as possible,” he added.
Formula One has said that it hopes to run a reduced championship of 15 to 18 races from the European summer in a season that has yet to start due to the pandemic.
This year’s original calendar envisaged a record 22 races.
There have also been discussions about continuing the season into next year and running more than one race at the same circuit, while condensing others into two days to enable more to be rescheduled.
However, much depends on countries coming out of novel coronavirus-induced lockdown, and allowing sporting events and mass gatherings.
In the absence of real racing worldwide, a range of e-sports series have emerged to fill the void, with Formula One also putting on a series of virtual grands prix with some of the current drivers.
Athletes have also had to train at home under lockdown conditions, but Rosberg, who is at his home in Ibiza, Spain, felt that the Formula One drivers had it easier than some others.
“If you look at cyclists, you have [Tour de France winner] Chris Froome. He has to do five or six hours a day on a spinning bike in his bathroom,” Rosberg said.
“In F1 it’s a little bit easier, because ... nobody can practice their car driving. So it’s really the same for everybody and all you can do is stay fit, which is a little bit easier,” he added.
Rosberg said that he would have done plenty of e-sports in their situation.
“It’s surely not going to be a negative to keep training my brain to react at high speed at things that are coming at me in a racing environment,” Rosberg said.
“It’s quite nice to see as well how e-sports has such a boom now. I’ve been watching some of the races and it’s incredible, firstly how real it looks and secondly how entertaining it is,” he said.
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