The FIA has shared the circuit changes, DRS zones, track limits, stewards names and more for this weekend’s F1 Azerbaijan GP.

With the gap of three weeks, F1 returns this weekend with the Azerbaijan GP at the Baku City Circuit which will also host first of the six sprint races of 2023. It will also see the debut of the new sprint weekend with a standalone qualifying session for it.

The Friday qualifying will set the grid for Sunday’s main race, while the FP2 will be replaced by a Saturday ‘Sprint Shootout’ which is a shortened version of normal F1 qualifying. Looking ahead to the weekend, the track limits remains to be defined as the white lines.

Considering it is a street circuit, the walls automatically becomes the track limits, but certain sections still can be utilised by the drivers. There are changes made to the F1 circuit too, whether it is new areas for pick-ups or asphalt laying.

Here’s what they are –

  • New vehicle opening LHS at pit entrance.
  • 2 new vehicle openings on LHS at pit exit.
  • Gate replaced with vehicle opening on RHS at pit exit.
  • At Turn 11 on RHS apex new curved concrete wall element.
  • Vehicle opening at Turn 14 RHS replaced with steel gate.
  • New asphalt paving from Turn 16 to Turn 13.

In terms of the two DRS zones, the first one’s detection’s point is at SC2 line with the activation being 54m after Turn 2. The second’s detection zone sits at Turn 20 but the activation will be at 447m after Turn 20 unlike the previous times at 347m.

The total distance of the DRS usage has been shortened as the FIA acts upon their idea which they revealed ahead of the 2023 season where they were to alter the DRS zones at selected venues in order to make passing easier at some venues and harder at others.

Moving ahead to the for FIA stewards, the panel will be led by Nish Shetty and he will be supported by Mathieu Remmerie, Enrique Bernoldi and Danil Solomin.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1651549251195793408?s=20

Here’s full FIA note: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Director’s%20Event%20Notes.pdf

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