Nico Hulkenberg admits that the "start-stop" nature of the 2023 Formula 1 season has left him feeling like there has been "very little racing". The calendar faced changes from an early stage in the year, with the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix resulting in a four-week gap opening up between Australia – only the third race in the schedule – and Azerbaijan. Another alteration followed when the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was called off following flooding in the region, and Hulkenberg acknowledges that these changes have had an impact on his experience of the season so far.
Hulkenberg: It feels like we've done very little racing
"I think that this year in general, the season has been very start-stop," Hulkenberg told media, including RacingNews365.com . "We had Melbourne and then there was this big break in April because we lost Shanghai, now we've recently lost Imola. It feels like we have done very little racing. "We've had one Sprint format and that was in Baku. That was after three or four weeks of break, so that felt a little extreme, to do it in a place like Baku with having [that] break. "Because, as a driver, you start the season, you try to get into rhythm, build momentum, and then to come to Baku, it was difficult, challenging. That was the first ever Sprint race I did."
Weekend format changes?
In terms of the general weekend format, Hulkenberg believes that one change in particular could prove beneficial. "Thinking about the future, if we want to do more events, [I think] that we have to [make] the weekends more compact," the Haas driver explained. "Somehow put the Thursday into the Friday and come up with a different kind of schedule maybe, so we all gain one day [off from] travelling, going to the event early."
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