Baku is the first F1 sprint event to be held on a street circuit, and the chances of accidents occurring have been ramped up by the decision to make the sprint a standalone event.
That is being done largely to encourage drivers to take more risks and produce a better show on Saturday because there will be no impact on their grid positions for Sunday’s main event.
As an extra challenge, the Miami GP takes place the following weekend, which means that teams will have to tackle three street races in nine days, with limited time to get new parts to Florida if they are required.
“I’m nervous about a sprint in Baku because you just have not enough time to repair if you have major damage,” said Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack when asked by Autosport.com about the risks.
“Because straight after the sprint you have the covers on, and in the morning you have only three, four hours to repair your car if it’s heavily damaged.
“So there is a high risk with that exercise, but Baku it is not so difficult to overtake. If you take high risk in the corners then there is high risk obviously, but I think it will be a good show.”
McLaren team head Andrea Stella admitted that damage is a concern.
Source: Autosport