Mercedes boss calls for analysis of the 'weekend with the sprint format' after a 'boring race' at the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP

Formula 1 Testing in Bahrain - Day One — Toto Wolff felt that the race in Baku was boring

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has suggested an analysis of the new sprint weekend format after an uneventful race at the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP. Ever since its introduction in 2015, the track in Baku has been home to some impressive races. It has often been a spectacle for fans, as the proximity of the walls and the long straights tend to provide a lot of action.

This year, however, none of them happened. The sprint weekend had not one but two races this weekend, as the Grand Prix on Sunday was preceded by the Sprint on Saturday. However, both races were somewhat uneventful. The cars were unable to pull off any kind of overtake.

After the race, Wolff admitted that the race was boring and that the weekend format needed looking into. He told reporters in Baku, as per Total Motorsport:

“There was no overtaking, even with a big pace difference. It made it not great entertainment. We have to analyse the weekend with the sprint format, whether there’s positives we can take out. At the end it all comes down to racing. It needs the tough battles and I think the highlight you could see yesterday was George and Max being able to battle it out and today there was none of that."

He added:

"Even if you were within 0.2 seconds it was very difficult to overtake, it was nearly impossible to overtake unless the other driver makes a mistake. We need to really look at it and how we can make it better. Not how we can make it better, we need to look at how we can avoid just a boring race. I’m not sure that 100m more DRS would have made a difference.”

Mercedes had a disappointing outing in Baku

Mercedes arguably had a disappointing outing in Baku as the car struggled for straight-line speed and overall efficiency. Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were unable to put together a result better than P6, as it is difficult for the cars to overtake.

The Sprint race on Saturday went somewhat better as George Russell's brilliant qualifying lap helped him secure a second-row start. This second-row start helped him battle Max Verstappen early in the race. After the safety car period, however, Verstappen passed the Mercedes driver as Russell had to settle for P4.