Lewis Hamilton likens the F1 2023 Baku sprint race to a long practice run as he expresses his thoughts on the event. The number of sprint events has doubled from three to six this year, resulting in format changes that replaced FP2 on Saturday morning with an additional qualifying session called the Sprint Shootout.
In contrast to the past two years, Friday’s qualifying set the Sunday Azerbaijan Grand Prix’s order, while Saturday’s sprint race created a self-contained race day on a typical weekend. Although he outqualified Mercedes teammate George Russell for the first time in 2023, Hamilton struggled in Baku on Saturday, finishing P7 in the sprint race and crossing the finish line five seconds behind Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
Despite cars being under parc ferme conditions since Friday qualifying, Hamilton remains optimistic that the data obtained from the sprint can lead to an improved performance on Sunday. He acknowledged his struggles with the car, stating, “It was a bit of a struggle, not the most exciting 17 laps. I struggled with the car compared to qualifying. Those are the [car] paces that you’re going to see tomorrow, I think.”
