Why Baku can't take over Turkey's spot on the calendar

Last week the news came out that the Turkish Grand Prix will not be held on June 13 after all. This because of the coronavirus situation in that country. The calendar has been shuffled again but the Azeri Grand Prix, which was mentioned as a replacement on that date, remains on the original date.

It's busy in Baku this summer

This has everything to do with the European Football Championship. In the weekend that the Turkish Grand Prix should have taken place the match between Wales and Switzerland will be played in Baku. The organization of the Grand Prix in Baku tells Motorsport-Total.com that there have been talks about changing the dates but that in their case it is really not possible.

"It's just really jammed in our case. It was pretty tight between all the other events in the city because the football tournament is going on then. In any other year, where Formula 1 is the only major event, then this might have been possible."

So Baku now remains on June 6, while the French Grand Prix is brought forward a week and now takes place on June 20. Because a GP has been dropped and F1 wants to keep a calendar with 23 races, an extra race will be organised in Austria in July, just like last year.