Formula 1 teams are feeling "nervous" ahead of the first Sprint of 2023 at this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Over the years, the Baku City Circuit has become known for dramatic, action-packed races and this year, a 17-lap dash on Saturday threatens to only deliver more chaos.
As a result, teams have big concerns over the potential impact of the Sprint both on spares and their budget sheet.
“The reality is it’s absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan," Red Bull chief Christian Horner declared.
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“But I think from a spectacle point of view, from a fan point of view, it’s probably going to be one of the most exciting sprint races of the year.
“From a cost cap perspective, all you can do is trash your car and it costs a lot of money around there.
“So you know one race is enough in Baku. The fact that we’ve got two, there could be, well, some action there.”
That view was shared by Aston Martin chief Mike Krack, who used a word echoed by many other team bosses up and down the grid.
"I'm nervous about a sprint in Baku because you just have not enough time to repair if you have major damage," he said.
"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."
Adding to the pre-race anticipation is a meeting of the F1 Commission on Tuesday to discuss potential changes to the Sprint format in Baku.
The most notable being a second qualifying session on Saturday morning to decide the Sprint grid, with the Friday qualifying then setting the start order for Sunday's Grand Prix.
“Two qualifying sessions per se is not something that’s bad," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff commented via SpeedCafe.
“In qualifying, you have less opportunity to put the car in the wall, but with two races, which we always knew, obviously there is more at risk.
“And then a back-to-back with Miami, that can be a problem.”
