"All you can do is trash your car" - Christian Horner on F1 Baku sprint race

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has lead criticism of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix format in the era of Formula 1's cost cap.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has led criticism of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix format. (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)

Asked about preparations for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Horner said "all you can do is trash your car."

The first of six sprint races in the 2023 Formula 1 season will take place around the tight Baku street circuit.

The weekend will feature two practice sessions, with qualifying on Friday before the sprint race Saturday evening and the grand prix on Sunday.

The race is a double-header, with the Miami Grand Prix just a week later.

"The reality is it's absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan," said Horner.

"From a spectacle point of view, from a fan point of view, is probably going to be one of the most exciting sprint races of the year," said Horner.

"From a cost cap perspective, all you can do is trash your car and it costs a lot of money around there. So one race is enough in Baku. The fact that we’ve got two... yeah, there could well be some action there."

"But that's part of the challenge and it's part of the task that we've got."

Red Bull has often been at the centre of incidents around the Baku street circuit. Here, Max Verstappen inspects his car after a tyre failure took him out of the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. (XPB Images)

Horner's reluctant acceptance of the Baku sprint format was echoed by McLaren boss Zak Brown, who said Baku "creates some pretty exciting races and some big crash damage bills."

"Same for everyone, and it kind of is what it is," said Brown.

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner was more circumspect.

"We now know enough about sprint events, that we know how to get prepared, and those are in the cost-cap budget," he said.

"I think everybody has got a little bit of margin there, knowing that some of these races could be tough for the budget, so I think everybody is prepared…"

The Formula 1 World Championship returns 28-30 April for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

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