Why F1’s team bosses want changes to sprint format they created

F1 team principals had varying opinions on how the Baku weekend played out, in some cases perhaps influenced by how their own teams had fared.

Any such discussion has to be undertaken in the right context. Firstly the principle of sprint weekends has been established over the last two seasons, and it’s obvious that they are not going away, so the debate is about the specific changes made to the format for last weekend.

Thus in reality Baku is being compared with the previous format, which included a Saturday FP2 session that, while useful for race tyre preparation, was essentially otherwise redundant.

Secondly, it’s always risky to draw too much from any sample of one, so F1 needs to wait and see how it works out in Austria and Spa, the next two sprints on the schedule.

And finally, Baku is an unusual case in that its street race nature meant that carnage and mayhem were expected – yet that didn’t materialise either in the sprint itself or the main race.

A change to the main straight DRS activation point – nothing to do with the sprint format as such – appeared to reduce the level of passing that we see in Azerbaijan.

Separating the sprint from the grand prix grid was designed to encourage drivers to risk more but given the nature of the track, they were all well aware that a mistake in the sprint could be very expensive, and not just in terms of the cost cap.

Perhaps in Austria, where the extensive run-offs allow a little more margin, they will push closer to the limit and take more risks.

As for the team bosses, the general view was to review Baku first and then maybe wait and see what happens at the next sprint.

“I’m not sure if I’m a fan,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Autosport. “But I think it’s absolutely the right decision to try it out, and find out whether we like it or not. That was the purpose of implementing it quickly.

“It’s more about what is best for F1 on a sprint race weekend, and I haven’t got an answer. I think we need to stick our heads together.”

“I think the format so far is going well,” said Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur. “Let’s see after Austria. We don’t want to draw conclusions too early. I think the format is very dynamic, and it’s good for everybody.”

“I don’t think a lot was wrong with it,” said Haas boss Gunther Steiner. “Obviously you always need to look at what you can do better, but we don’t have to panic to change…