All drivers looking forward to little holiday except Alonso

With 23 races, the 2023 Formula 1 calendar is the fullest calendar the sport has ever had. Yet the calendar initially featured an additional race: the Chinese Grand Prix. However, that race was dropped because Formula One and the Chinese government could not reach an agreement around regulations for the Formula One circus. As a result, the drivers have a three-week break after the race in Australia.

"It's a bit unusual to have three weeks off so early in the season," reflected Max Verstappen at the press conference ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. However, the Dutchman himself can make good use of the holiday to fully recover from his stomach flu.

"I don't like it, of course, because which race was also dropped to give that break?" jokes Guanyu Zhou. "But yes, with such a busy calendar, it's always nice to have some time off so the drivers can reset and prepare for the upcoming races. It's not just about race weekends, there are also a lot of activities with the team and sponsors."

Charles Leclerc agrees. "With where we are now as a team we are going to use this opportunity to do as much work as possible to get the upgrades in faster. It's still a long season, so we want to be competitive as soon as possible."

Oscar Piastri also welcomed the holiday. Like Ferrari, McLaren also has work to do to get back to last season's form. "It will be a bit of a reset for the rest of the year, which will be nice for everyone. It's a good chance to start again when you're not in great shape, so we're going to take advantage of it."

The odd one out is Fernando Alonso. When asked if he welcomes a bit of a holiday, the Spaniard is clear: "No, I prefer to keep racing. Of course it's useful to be able to prepare for the next race and look back a bit on how it went with the new team. But it's better to do that on the track."