Baku can wreck Aston Martin’s budget. It’s the fear of Tom McCullough, director of performance from the Silverstone team. For the engineer, Baku street circuit it is too dangerous to release this new format.
For the first time in the history of the Formula 1, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix there will be two qualifying, two races and a total of six sessions. It will debut on one of the most dangerous circuits in the world championship, which combines the risk of walls with the highest top speed in the championship. Something that, for McCullough, increases the risk of accidents.
The new format threatens the budget limit
Teams are restricted from spending to a maximum of $135 million. during the 2023 season, and although They will be compensated with $300,000. For each of the six sprint weekends, the FIA has eliminated accident compensation.
Therefore, the cost of a hypothetical accident will have a direct impact on the budget of the teams, something that worries Aston Martin. “From the point of view of the cost limit, that worries me,” McCullough admitted in statements collected by ‘RacingNews365’.
Asked about the Azerbaijan sprint race, McCullough confessed his fear: “Fortunately we haven’t had any accidents or a lot of crash damage yet, but it’s always a concern.”
He also spoke about the possibility that Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1, was considering to implement reverse grid sprint races: “I am still not convinced of a race in which the fastest cars are at the back of the grid and the most slow at the front, nor from qualifying to a single lap. I don’t think it’s necessarily the right thing to do, besides it would increase the risk of accidents and, therefore, the expense”.
Aston Martin’s director of performance has also called on Formula 1 to stop implementing changes to the weekend format. “For now, I think we should get used to the current format and not change too much. But if you want to make changes, you must have time to do it correctly“, explained McCullough, who did not miss the opportunity to criticize that the change will be made official next Wednesday, April 26, just two days before the start of the grand prix.
