Azerbaijan 2026 GP preview
Weekend schedule
All timezonesTimes shown in circuit-local time (GMT+4).
- FP1Thu12:30
- FP2Thu16:00
- FP3Fri12:30
- QualifyingFri16:00
- RaceSat15:00
A forecast appears here once the weekend is inside the forecast window.
The circuit
Full circuit guide →Baku City Circuit · 6.003 km · 20 corners · anticlockwise
335.7 km/h
Top speed (2022–now)
Alexander Albon, 2023
All time 366.1 km/h, Bottas ’16
Historic moments
2021 · A blowout, then the wrong brake setting
Max Verstappen's left-rear tyre exploded on the main straight with five laps left while he was comfortably leading. The red flag set up a two-lap sprint to the flag with Lewis Hamilton handed the win on a plate - and Hamilton hit the wrong brake setting into Turn 1, sailed straight down the escape road and finished 15th. Sergio Pérez won his first race for Red Bull.
2018 · Red Bull's teammates take each other out
Battling for track position without team orders, Daniel Ricciardo rear-ended teammate Max Verstappen on lap 40, eliminating both Red Bulls from a race the team had been expected to challenge for. Lewis Hamilton inherited a chaotic win, with Sergio Pérez taking a shock Force India podium.
What makes it different
- The run from the final corner to Turn 1 is about 2.2 km flat out - the longest full-throttle stretch in Formula 1, and the reason low-downforce gambles keep paying off here.
- The castle section at Turns 8–9 narrows to roughly 7.6 m, the tightest point on any current F1 track; there is no room to pass and barely room to correct.
- The castle section runs directly alongside the 11th-12th century fortress walls of Baku's Old City, which UNESCO listed as Azerbaijan's first World Heritage Site in 2000.
Get the Monday F1 roundup
Free weekly email with the latest analysis and weekend highlights.