F1 teams reject Hamilton's idea for managing dangerous Baku closing speeds

Lewis Hamilton's proposal to change energy management rules at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, aimed at reducing dangerous closing-speed differentials through the Turn 18/19 sweeps, has been rejected by F1 teams. The idea followed a near-miss on Thursday when Liam Lawson had to take evasive action at 300km/h to avoid hitting Hamilton's Ferrari, an incident that earned Hamilton a reprimand. Hamilton's suggestion, to mandate full energy deployment through that section, was raised at the drivers' briefing but teams felt it was too late in the weekend to overhaul their energy strategies with only an hour of practice left before qualifying. F1 race director Rui Marques has instead asked drivers on out laps to stay off the racing line between Turns 16 and 18 to reduce risk.