31 March 2023 , 13:33
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Christian Horner bemoaned the prospect of a Sprint event on the streets of Baku as the first use of the alternative Formula 1 weekend structure of the year approaches.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be the first of six race weekends this year to feature a Sprint session. Qualifying will move to the Friday so the short-form race can take place on the Saturday, before the main event on Sunday as usual.
Even without the Sprint, the Baku circuit offers plenty of potential for crashes which could lead to lengthy and expensive repair jobs. Plus, it is followed the next weekend by another street event in Miami, making it even more important for teams to avoid damage as much as possible.
With that in mind, Horner is not at all impressed that Baku was chosen to be a Sprint weekend. "The reality is it's absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan," the Red Bull chief told reporters in Melbourne, adding that he is "wary" of the dangers.
"I think from a spectacle point of view, from a fan point of view, it's probably going to be one of the most exciting sprint races of the year. From a cost cap perspective, all you can do is trash your car. And it costs a lot of money around there. So one race is enough in Baku, the fact that we've got two, there could be well some action there.
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"But that's part of the challenge and it's part of the task that we've got. Hopefully, we can tidy up the format for the sprint races coming up, that they are bit more that they are a bit more dynamic. I know that the sporting directors have been working hard on that and hopefully we can get that that finalised."
The Baku circuit is very narrow in some places (Getty Images)Other team bosses were in agreement and the nervousness was obvious. McLaren chief Zak Brown warned of the danger of "big crash damage bills", while Aston Martin's Mike Krack admitted his "nervousness" and Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer said his team will be stockpiling spare parts as a precaution.
Haas chief Guenther Steiner added: "I think we know enough about Sprint events that we know how to get prepared. I think everybody is leaving a little bit of a margin there knowing that some of these races could be tough for the budget."
Meanwhile, a proposed new format for the Sprint weekends is being considered which would see the FP2 session on a Saturday morning scrapped for a second qualifying. That would be for the Sprint later in the day, while Friday's qualifying would be for the main race as usual.