“We need to look at it” - Wolff hints need for rule changes after “boring” race

There were just 13 recorded overtakes during Sunday’s 51-lap grand prix, five fewer than in the sprint race.

With degradation better than expected on the hard tyre, there was very little action after the Safety Car as the field spread out.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton ran within one-second of Carlos Sainz for a number of laps but couldn’t get close enough to make the most of DRS.

Even in the midfield, Lando Norris spent a significant portion of the race stuck behind Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg, who hadn’t stopped like everyone else under the Safety Car.

Reflecting on the race in Baku, Wolff conceded it wasn’t “great entertainment”.

“There was no overtaking today, even with a big pace difference,” Wolff said.

“It made it not great entertainment. I wouldn’t know today between Aston Martin and Ferrari and us who is quicker because you’re stuck where you’re stuck and that’s pretty much it.

“But at the end it all comes down to racing. It needs the tough battles and I think the highlight you could see yesterday was George and Max being able to battle it out. And today there was none of that. 

“Even if you were within 0.2 seconds it was nearly impossible to overtake unless the other driver makes a mistake. We need to look at it and how we can make it better, how we can avoid just a boring race.

“I’m not sure that 100m more DRS would have made a difference.”

Hamilton disagreed with his team boss, questioning the FIA’s decision to shorten the DRS zone for this year.

“They shortened the DRS this year down the straight,” Hamilton added. “I don’t quite know why they did that, we’ve always had great racing with where the DRS was. 

“But by the time you switch the DRS, it was too late.”