Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Track guide

The start/finish line is at the end of the main straight of the track, which has seen drivers hit speeds of 360 km/h making it the fastest street circuit. Heading down into turn one the drivers go onto a mini straight before turn two, the first DRS straight of the race, before heading into sector two.

Sector two is the more technical part of the race, with various quick turns and chicanes. Turns three and four set up for the fast chicane of turns five and six before the right turn seven leads to one of the tightest parts of a Formula 1 track throughout the year.

Turns eight, nine, ten and eleven are two chicanes after each other, with the entry being only just over a car's width into turn eight. Lewis Hamilton crashed his car into turn ten during qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix, causing him to start tenth for the race.

Turn twelve leads to the high-speed lefts of thirteen and fourteen, before the hard-braking section of turn fifteen, when Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Red Bull in FP3 in 2016.

After turn sixteen it’s near flat-out through turn seventeen and the chicane of eighteen/nineteen and through the second DRS zone until the end of the lap. This part of the track usually shows which cars have the best engine power as it’s full throttle to obtain the maximum speed.

Race History

Even though Baku City Circuit has only hosted a few Grand Prix the past few years they have certainly been an entertaining watch. Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have each won once at the venue. 

Last time at the Baku City Circuit

Valtteri Bottas grabbed his second win of the season at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a year after losing out on the win because of a very late puncture he suffered.

Bottas seemed determine to win, keeping his foot in it in the first corners when under attack from Lewis Hamilton. After the initial attack from the Brit, Bottas drove away from the pack and went on to win the race despite some late pressure from Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel finished third, while teammate Charles Leclerc ended fifth with the fastest lap a day after crashing his Ferrari in qualifying.

Four cars retired including Pierre Gasly, and 2018 podium sitter Sergio Perez put in another blinding performance to finish the race sixth for Racing Point.

His second win of the season meant Bottas took back the lead in the championship because of his bonus point in Australia. It proved to be his last win until the Japanese Grand Prix.

What does the race weekend of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix look like?

On 4th June the first free practice starts at 10:30am GMT, followed by FP2 from 14:00. Qualifying will be held on Saturday, June 5th from 14:00 with the race the next day starting at 13:00. 

What time does the Azerbaijan Grand Prix start?

As in previous years, the GP of Azerbaijan can be followed live in the live blog of GPblog from half an hour before the start of the race. The start time of the Baku Grand Prix is 13:00 GMT and the race can be followed live on Sky Sports F1 as well as all practice sessions and qualifying in the build-up to the race.