Baku was the first F1 sprint event to be held on a street circuit, and with the decision to make the sprint a stand-alone event, the chances of accidents increased.

This is mainly done to encourage drivers to take more risks and achieve better performances on Saturday, as grid positions for Sunday’s main event will not be affected.

As an added challenge, the Miami Grand Prix next weekend means the team has to complete three street races in nine days and, if needed, ship new parts to Florida within a limited time frame.

“I’m nervous about the Baku sprint because if you have major damage, you don’t have enough time to fix it,” Aston Martin team principal Mike Clark said when asked by Autosport.com about the risks.

“Because you put the hood on right after the sprint, if your car is badly damaged, you only have three or four hours in the morning to fix your car.

“So there are high risks in this exercise, but overtaking in Baku is not difficult. If you take a lot of risk in the corners, it’s obviously high risk, but I think it will be a good show.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted damage was a problem.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR21, leaves his car after hitting a wall

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

“Yes, we are nervous,” the Italian said. “At the same time, we were in favor of adding spectacle through sprint racing. Somehow, we had to adapt. There was also a dialogue with the FIA ​​and F1.

“So it’s a collaborative process. Ultimately, we have to find the sweet spot where the team manages the parts and manages the cost in the cost cap.”

Against the backdrop of a cost cap, teams have to make an informed judgment between having enough spare parts to get through a weekend’s street circuit and not building too many spec examples that could soon be replaced as they continue to develop the car.

“The budget cap is always on the back of your mind,” says AlphaTauri technical director Jody Egginton. “The last thing you want is something sitting on the shelf that you’re not running because you’ve weeded them out and moved on without getting any benefit out of it. So yes, there’s risk.

“Like the day you come back to Monaco, you always want to make sure you have enough because you’re never sure what’s going to happen. It’s risk and reward.

“We’re going to take the approach we normally take and see where we are. But you can’t afford, especially when you have a very strong development program, to manufacture too many parts.

“With our floor plan, we have to manage it very carefully because the floor development plan is strong, so you don’t want stock sitting around that you don’t need.

“But at the same time, if you miss out on one of the updates, you want to make sure you can roll back and have enough stock.”