Formula 1's managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn has criticised the performance gap between the top three teams and the midfield as "far too big".
His comments come as the sport's bosses, of which the Briton is one, are looking to find agreement on regulation changes for 2021 which will make for a more competitive grid while maintaining the independent nature of each team's operation.
One such way is through limits on spending, which Williams deputy boss Claire Williams pleaded for earlier this week, but Brawn's focus was more on the lack of teams battling for the lead positions.
"In less than two weeks, we'll be racing in Baku which last year saw the only podium appearance of a driver from outside the top three teams," he explained and was quoted by F1i.com.
"Could the return to this very different street circuit throw up a result outside of the top three teams? On current form, it looks highly unlikely."
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Usually, it is unpredictable races such as Azerbaijan, which saw Lance Stroll just beaten by Valtteri Bottas over the line but still finish third 12 months ago, that allow the smaller teams to shine but as Brawn pointed out.
"On Lap 16 [in China], prior to the run of pit stops the gap from leader [Sebastian] Vettel to seventh-placed Kevin Magnussen was over 35 seconds. The Dane was already trailing Ricciardo, the next man in front, by 20 seconds.
"The Safety Car mixed things up, but not enough to see a driver from the second group join the fight for podium places."
