Ferrari boss Vasseur challenges Sprint criticism

Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has insisted the lack of action during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has "nothing to do" with the reshuffled Sprint weekend format.

Changes to the schedule were passed by the F1 Commission in the week leading up to the event in Baku which saw just one practice session held before two qualifying sessions and two races - with parc ferme conditions imposed before the first qualifying.

With teams missing the mark with set-ups due to the restrictive nature of the schedule, it seemed as though nobody was able to get on terms with a car in front, leading to a lacklustre grand prix.

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff suggested the format had hindered the chances of an exciting main event whilst various other members of the paddock have called for further tweaks moving forward.

Up and down

Vasseur has, however, pointed to previous events in the Azeri capital to prove the new Sprint format was blameless for the lack of drama.

"The fact the race was not so exciting has nothing to do with the format," Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"For me, the format was exciting because all the sessions are important and I can imagine that for the fans and spectators, that when all the sessions are important... it is true that FP2 could be a bit boring.

"The fact the race was not so exciting, if you look over the last [seven] years, Baku is really up and down because very often you have a train of DRS and if the first car of the train has a huge top speed, you can do 200 laps like this and never have someone be able to overtake and sometimes it is a bit tough.

"But on the other hand, in Baku we have also had some very exciting races in the past and it has nothing to do with the format."