Williams F1 Chief Warns Fans Of Chaotic Sprint Weekend At Azerbaijan Grand Prix

James Vowles, Williams team principal, is expecting chaos at the first sprint weekend of the 2023 F1 season in Baku, with concerns about teams running short on spare parts due to the new format and anticipation of an incident-filled weekend.

James Vowles, the team principal of Williams, has warned fans of a chaotic first sprint weekend at the Baku street circuit. This is the first of six sprints this 2023 F1 season, and the first to feature the all-new format that will see an extra qualifying round - or shootout - specifically for the sprint race, separating it from the Grand Prix on the Sunday. 

This will involve a single practice session on Friday, followed by qualifying, where the grid order for the grand prix on Sunday will be determined. Saturday will be dedicated to a separate qualifying session for the following sprint race.

As Baku is a street circuit with both fast and slow sections, concerns have been raised about some teams possibly running short on spare parts, especially since the next race in Miami will be just seven days later. Vowles stated in a clip posted on the Williams team website that they are already working to understand how the new format can be exploited, and he expects an eventful weekend in Baku as the 2023 F1 season gets underway.

“What we have now coming up is Baku, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where it’s going to be a sprint race weekend potentially with a slight modification to the rules that we’ve had previously.

“And that work is now ongoing in the background right now to understand how we should restructure that race weekend and what the implications of that will be on everyone.

“Irrespective of whether the rules change or not, a sprint race weekend at that tight, twisty track where you go through the castle section is going to cause a little bit of mayhem.

“There’s going to be difficulties, but irrespective that’s the preparation we’re going to do going forward.”