After four weeks of a long break, Formula One 2023 season finally resumed with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Baku street circuit also hosted the first sprint race of the season with a tweaked format. A total of two races and as many qualifying sessions took place on the challenging street track of Baku. But the results were somewhat underwhelming, and something must change, feels the Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff.
Sergio Perez of Red Bull won both races, outclassing his teammate and driver’s championship leader, Max Verstappen. Max had a different fight altogether with the Mercedes driver, George Russell, which apparently hampered his position in the spring race. Overall, the whole weekend, who promised fierce action owing to the new sprint format, did not deliver up to the hype, and Toto Wolff of the Mercedes calls for a change.
Toto Wolff Feels Baku Race Weekend Was “Not Great Entertainment,” Demands Immediate Format Change
Baku has always been one of the most highly anticipated race weekends of the Formula One season. The street track’s steep turns and log straights generate a lot of action between the drivers. However, this year, none of that panned out. In both the races, the sprint and the main, very few overtakes took place, which arguably made the race boring. Meanwhile, Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, agreed to the popular public sentiment and called for a change.
Toto Wolff said the lack of overtakes during the whole weekend made the event “not great entertainment.” He further added that the contact between George Russell and Max Verstappen remained the only highlight of the entire weekend. Hence, the concerned authority must analyze the sprint weekend format and pick out the positives that could lead to tough battles. The Silver Arrows boss also noted that even with a 0.2 seconds gap, the drivers were finding it very hard to overtake the machinery ahead of them. Wolff believes the idea behind the change should be to make the race less boring and not to make it better.
Fans Call Out Mercedes Boss For Double Standards
Meanwhile, Formula One fans took exception to the Mercedes boss’ recent comment on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Toto termed the race boring and voiced his opinion for a change. However, the fans interpreted his words in a different direction. As per many social media users, Wolff is irked by Red Bull’s dominance and wants to bring an end to it by bringing in format changes. A few users also called out the team principal for his hypocrisy.
They believe that at a time when Mercedes was dominating the tracks of F1 with fast-paced cars, Toto Wolff enjoyed these types of one-sided races. But now, as the tables have turned and Red Bulls are dominating, the Mercedes boss has a problem with it and finds it boring. Regardless of what people believe, Baku was certainly an underwhelming race weekend with no fight from any teams whatsoever. A street track of Baku surely deserved a better ending.
