Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Mercedes’ Toto Wolff questions Formula One direction after ‘boring’ Baku race
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Published 01/05/2023 at 20:26 GMT+1
Sergio Perez raced to victory during Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Red Bull maintained their 100% record at the top of the F1 standings this season. Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff has questioned the direction F1 is taking after a “boring” race in Baku and how the teams can work together to catch red Bull. He said: "It was not a thriller, we need to look at how we can avoid a boring race."
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Toto Wolff has questioned the direction Formula One is going in after Sunday’s “boring” Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The comments from Mercedes’ team principal came after Sergio Perez secured the win in Baku, narrowly finishing ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen before Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crossed the line more than 20 seconds later.
Wolff suggested that the race in Azerbaijan was less than entertaining and questions should be raised about a repeat.
"It was not a thriller," he said. "No overtaking, even with a big pace difference, made it not great entertainment.
"Even if you are within 0.2 seconds, it is nearly impossible to overtake unless the other driver makes a mistake."
However, he went on to defend the new rules put in place for 2022.
"After a race weekend like this, we mustn't talk it down overall and say it is the wrong direction and we need to change completely.
"It is more about asking why wasn't it entertaining, and revisit it. We need to look at how we can avoid a boring race."
A revised sprint format was given its first run in Baku and featured a second qualifying session that decided the grid for the sprint - separated out entirely from the main grand prix - rather than using the result of the sprint to decide the grid for the main race as the previous format did.
Verstappen felt the whole idea “should be scrapped” in a series of mixed responses to the new format, with some drivers in favour of the new structure.
A collision between Verstappen and Mercedes' George Russell was the only thing that came close to any real action close to the front, according to Wolff.
"We have to analyse the weekend with the sprint format whether there are positives that we can take out, but in the end it all comes down to racing,” he said.
"It needs the tough battles and the highlight [on Saturday] was George and Max being able to battle it out and [in the grand prix] there was none of that.”
It isn’t just Wolff who believes there are problems with it becoming increasingly difficult to overtake, but F1 teams and the drivers themselves are also finding it to be the case.
Despite drivers reporting that the new rule aimed at closing up the field and making overtaking easier has made it easier to follow than before, developed cars have made it tougher because of the reduction of the slipstream effect behind another car.
This has led to the sport finding itself in a situation where one team have become dominant in previous years. For example, Verstappen set a new record for wins in a single season last year, and Red Bull have dominated the field this term.
"You have two cars sailing off into the sunset on merit and there is a 20-second gap,” Wolff analysed. “I wouldn't know between Aston Martin and Ferrari and us who was quicker because you are stuck where you are stuck and that is pretty much it.
"We see a pattern, there are two Red Bulls, and then there are six cars, and a long way off is the third division. That has been the pattern the first four races and we have to shake that up somehow.
"They were 20 seconds ahead of Leclerc after 40 racing laps, so it is half a second a lap. At least we have seen they were pushing so that is the real pace. Half a second is quite a long way to go.
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On how the remainder of the field can catch up with Red Bull, he added: "We either have to do a better job all of us together to catch them or change the regulations, and I don't think we should be doing the second one.
“We just need to win on merit and that means being more clever than Red Bull."
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