Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has vented his frustration after a “boring” Azerbaijan Grand Prix, claiming it was “nearly impossible to overtake” in Baku on Sunday.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez cruised to victory on the street circuit, with teammate Max Verstappen and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc joining him on the podium.
There were dramatic scenes early in the race when AlphaTauri’s Nyck De Vries crashed on the tenth lap, forcing a safety car that rejigged the racing order. But the final hour of racing was essentially a procession, with overtaking a rarity on the Baku track.
Mercedes driver George Russell was within DRS range of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll for most of the race, but couldn’t get past the Canadian, pitting on the penultimate lap and contesting for the bonus point.
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Speaking after the race, Wolf called for F1 bosses to investigate the lack of action in this year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with 100 metres removed from the DRS zone ahead of the event.
“There was no overtaking today, even with a big pace difference,” Wolff said.
“It made it not great entertainment. I wouldn’t know today between Aston Martin and Ferrari and us who is quicker because you’re stuck where you’re stuck and that’s pretty much it.
“But 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.
“Even if you were within 0.2 seconds it was nearly impossible to overtake unless the other driver makes a mistake. We need to look at it and how we can make it better, how we can avoid just a boring race.
“I’m not sure that 100m more DRS would have made a difference.”
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Sunday’s race once again emphasised the superiority of this year’s Red Bull, which is miles ahead if its closest rivals.
”(Red Bull) are in another league,” Leclrec confessed after the race.
“Over 51 laps, it was just not possible. They have so much more pace than we do in race pace.
“I think they found something that we didn’t yet. That’s where our focus is at the moment, everybody’s working flat out to try and understand what we can do in the races, especially to just get more performance.”
The F1 season resumes next weekend with the Miami Grand Prix, which gets underway on Monday, May 8 at 5.30am AEST.
Azerbaijan GP Results
1. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)
2. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)
3. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)
4. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)
5. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
6. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)
7. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
8. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
9. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
10. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri)
11. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren)
12. Alex Albon (THA/Williams)
13. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas)
14. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)
15. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)
16. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams)
17. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas)
18. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)
Retired: Nyck de Vries (NED/AlphaTauri), Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo)
Perez claims Sprint race in Azerbaijan! | 02:06
