---
title: "Wolff: F1 must focus on making racing better after ‘boring’ Baku race"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2023/05/01/wolff-f1-must-focus-on-making-racing-better-after-boring-baku-race/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2023-05-01T10:40:54Z"
modified: "2023-05-01T10:40:55Z"
---

# Wolff: F1 must focus on making racing better after ‘boring’ Baku race

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes Formula 1 should prioritise its focus on making grand prix racing more exciting after a “boring” Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull scored its four straight victory in 2023 as Sergio Perez led home team-mate Max Verstappen in a dominant one-two finish.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished just under 20 seconds adrift behind the pair in third place on a weekend that F1 debuted its new sprint format schedule after making tweaks for this year.

But a lack of action in Sunday’s race has prompted concerns that the current generation of cars have not delivered to expectations after drivers found it difficult to overtake on the Baku’s street circuit.

Wolff felt the limited amount of on-track action was enough for F1 to seek answers as to why the current rules are not delivering.

“Today wasn’t a thriller,” said Wolff, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “Just no overtaking, even with a big pace difference. It made it not great entertainment.

“We have to analyse the weekend with the sprint format, where there are positives that we can take out, but in the end it all comes down to racing.

“It needs the tough battles, and I think the highlight yesterday \[in the sprint\] was George \[Russell\] and Max \[Verstappen\] being able to battle it out. There was none of that today.

“Even if you are within 0.2 of a second, it is very difficult to overtake, nearly impossible to overtake, unless the other driver makes a mistake.

“We need to really look at it and how we can avoid a boring race.”

Wolff suggested that the decision to shorten the DRS zone on the main straight in Baku was a factor in the shortage of overtaking, but drivers have admitted that this year’s cars are harder to follow than their 2022 predecessors.

“I feel these cars are generating a bit more downforce, and by generating that little more downforce, the car behind struggles a little bit more to follow,” said Azerbaijan GP winner Perez.

“In my opinion, it wasn’t the right thing to shorten up the DRS, because it’s getting harder to overtake than last year already in itself, so it’s something we should review.”

But Wolff stresses that F1 should not go down the route of changing the regulations and instead understand how to make racing more exciting.

“I think after a race weekend like this we must not talk it down overall, and say that is the wrong direction and we need to change completely,” Wolff said.

“It is more about understanding why was it not so entertaining. We had two cars that are sailing into the sunset on merit and then there’s a 20-second gap, and I wouldn’t know today between Aston Martin, Ferrari and us who is quicker. You are stuck where you are stuck and that is pretty much it.

“For us, it is about finding more data sets in the next races, see how this is going to develop and then maybe we need to adjust.”