Formula 1 returns from its four-week break at the Azerbaijan GP next weekend with the first Sprint weekend of the season; watch the Sprint at 2.30pm next Saturday, with lights out for the Grand Prix at 12pm on Sunday
Thursday 27 April 2023 08:12, UK
Formula 1 finally returns next weekend at the often dramatic Azerbaijan GP.
The cancellation of the Chinese GP means F1 fans will have had to wait four weeks to see cars on track again following the Australian GP.
Max Verstappen entered the break with a 15-point lead at the top of the drivers' championship, with Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton the three drivers behind. Meanwhile, Red Bull hold a 58-point advantage over Aston Martin in the constructors' championship, with Mercedes third and Ferrari fourth.
An action-packed weekend lies ahead with the first Sprint of the season taking place. Watch the Sprint at 2.30pm next Saturday, with lights out for the Grand Prix at 12pm on Sunday.
Here Sky Sports F1 examines the talking points ahead of the weekend...
The first of 2023's six Sprint weekends will also be the first time Saturday's shorter race has been contested on a street circuit.
The decision to hold the Sprint early in the season, at the beginning of a double-header at a track with walls close by, has been much debated by the team principals, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner particularly outspoken.
"The reality is it's absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan," Horner said in Australia last time out. "I think from a spectacle point of view, from a fan point of view, it is 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 one race is enough in Baku. The fact that we've got two... yeah, there could well be some action there."
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack admitted there was a "nervousness", while Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer said teams would likely have been using the unintended break to build up spare parts.
Next weekend is also expected to feature a new format for Sprint weekends. The proposed plans are to have just one practice session on the Friday morning, with Friday afternoon's qualifying session now setting the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.
The Sprint will then have its own standalone events on Saturday, with a separate, shorter qualifying session replacing Practice Two in the morning before the Sprint itself on Saturday afternoon. The result of the Sprint will no longer determine the order of Sunday's grid.
The F1 Commission is meeting in the week to vote on the plans.
Three races, three pole positions, three wins, two 1-2s - Red Bull have been in a league of their own so far in 2023.
Given their form, it is little wonder why Horner does not want the added jeopardy of a street-race Sprint.
The RB19's superiority saw the first non-Red Bull car come home over 38 seconds and 20 seconds behind the winners in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while Verstappen was comfortably ahead of Hamilton's Mercedes before the late red flags in Australia wiped out his advantage.
But could this extended break possibly have hurt Red Bull?
Given their development penalty this year, Red Bull will have wanted to keep their momentum going and claim as many points as possible while they had their car advantage. "We need to make hay while the sun shines," Horner told Sky News last month.
The Chinese GP cancellation has meant their rivals have now had four uninterrupted weeks to work on upgrades to try and close that gap.
Unlike over the summer break when F1 teams must shut down for 14 consecutive days, factories have been able to continue to operate as normal.
Toto Wolff said on Thursday that Mercedes have been working at a fast pace with the intention of "consistently bringing upgrades" over the coming races, with James Allison explaining after the Australian GP that the focus would be on finding downforce and delivering different suspension components to improve the balance and driveability of the W14 in Baku.
The former champions have also reshuffled their technical team in a bid to close the gap to Red Bull.
Aston Martin are also set to add their first real upgrades to the AMR23, including a new rear wing, as they seek to build on their impressive start to the year which has made them the closest challengers at the front.
Red Bull are seeking a third consecutive win in Azerbaijan and will be favourites to do just that given their DRS advantage in the event they find themselves behind on Baku's long straights, but a closer battle at the front could be on the cards.
After a poor Australian GP weekend, Perez is probably glad to be heading back to a street circuit as he seeks to close Verstappen's championship lead and reignite his own title challenge.
The Mexican already finds himself 15 points behind his team-mate after his fifth place in Melbourne, but four of his five victories in F1 have come on street circuits, including in Saudi Arabia this year.
Perez was victorious in Baku in 2021 and also finished on the podium in 2022, 2018 and 2016. Given Verstappen's form, Perez cannot afford to fall much further behind in the standings even so early in the season. Can he make the most of the extra points on offer next weekend?
In the garage next door, Ferrari will be hoping their fortunes in 2023 and in Baku are about to change. Azerbaijan has not been a happy hunting ground over the years for the Scuderia, with just three podium finishes returned and last year seeing a double retirement.
Red Bull's closest rivals last year, Ferrari have endured a difficult start to the new season with Charles Leclerc suffering two DNFs and a grid penalty for engine parts already, and they failed to collect points in Australia. Another poor weekend will almost certainly mean Ferrari's wait for another world title will go on for another year.
McLaren have been one of the biggest disappointments so far in F1 2023. They may be sitting in fifth place in the constructors' championship, and just 14 points behind Ferrari ahead, but Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were among the biggest gainers from the chaotic finish in Melbourne.
The pair finished sixth and eighth respectively to get McLaren off the mark with 12 points, but when Kevin Magnussen caused the second red flag of the race, Norris had been running eighth with Piastri outside the points.
Zak Brown admitted ahead of the season that the team had missed their development targets with their initial car so a slow start was expected.
Baku will see McLaren unveil the first of three major upgrades the team is planning for the MCL60 through the season.
Team principal Andrea Stella said earlier in the season that the data looked "promising" for the update and the team hope it will ensure they are indeed the fifth-fastest car on track.
It will take more than just this upgrade to get McLaren back to where they want to be in the top four, but it is hoped it will sow the seeds of a 2023 revival that their new technical executive team can build from.
The Azerbaijan GP weekend has a history of delivering season-defining drama with thrilling moments every year it has been held (we will quietly ignore F1's first running in Baku - the rather dull 2016 European GP).
Think Sebastian Vettel's bumper cars with Hamilton behind the Safety Car in 2017, Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen wiping each other out as Red Bull team-mates in 2018, Leclerc's "I am stupid!" qualifying crash in 2019.
And then there was 2021 when Verstappen suffered a tyre blowout on the main straight when leading with just five laps remaining before Hamilton botched the subsequent race restart and also finished out of the points.
Even last year's relatively tame Grand Prix featured Leclerc suffering an engine blowout when leading.
What will Baku's streets conjure up across two races this year? Find out on Sky Sports F1 next weekend!
The Formula 1 season resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from April 28-30, with the first Sprint weekend of 2023 shown in full live on Sky Sports F1. Watch Saturday's Sprint at 2:30pm and Sunday's race at 12pm. Get Sky Sports
