Formula 1 headed east at the end of September, with Baku’s high-speed streets providing the next test in the 2026 F1 World Championship. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix had built a reputation for chaos, jeopardy and late-race drama, thanks to a circuit that combines flat-out blasts, heavy braking zones and one of the tightest sections on the calendar.
Race Guide
Season: 2026 F1 World Championship
Race date: Saturday, 26 September 2026
Race start time: 15:00 local time
Circuit: Baku City Circuit
Laps: 51
Circuit length: 6.003km
2025 winner: Max Verstappen
| Pole position | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | TBC | TBC | |
| Time | TBC | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | TBC | TBC | |
| Time | TBC | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | TBC | TBC | |
| Second | TBC | TBC | |
| Third | TBC | TBC | |
This year’s event came with an unusual twist: the Grand Prix was held on Saturday to avoid a clash with Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day. The entire timetable moved forward accordingly, with practice beginning on Thursday and qualifying taking place on Friday before the lights went out one day earlier than usual.
Baku also opened a demanding flyaway triple-header, with Malaysia and Singapore following immediately afterward. That combination of a shifted schedule, relentless travel and three contrasting circuits would test every team’s preparation—and leave drivers with little time to recover if Azerbaijan delivered its customary disruption.
Baku Stats & Facts
Formula 1 first raced on the Baku City Circuit in 2016, when the event was staged as the European Grand Prix. It became the Azerbaijan Grand Prix the following year and quickly established itself as one of F1’s fastest and most unpredictable street races, combining extreme speeds with walls that punish even the smallest mistake. The 3.7-mile circuit’s defining feature, a 1.4-mile main straight—the longest on the calendar—where cars exceed 200mph and the slipstream regularly producing three-wide battles into Turn One. That braking zone has also delivered its share of controversy, most famously when Red Bull team-mates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo collided there in 2018.
See also…
At the other end of the spectrum is Baku’s narrow passage through the UNESCO-protected medieval city. The Turn Eight-Nine castle section measuring just 7.6 metres between the barriers, making it the tightest stretch of track on the F1 calendar and creating one of the championship’s most striking contrasts: Monaco-style precision followed by Monza-level speed.
Daniel Ricciardo set Baku’s unpredictable tone by charging from 10th on the grid to win the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017. Sergio Pérez became its first repeat winner with victories in 2021 and 2023, while Max Verstappen recovered from his dramatic tyre failure when leading in 2021 to triumph in 2022 and again in 2025. Oscar Piastri’s 2024 success added another name to a winners’ list that reflects Baku’s ability to reward outright pace, opportunism and composure in equal measure.
Weekend Schedule
| Date | Session | Local Time |
|---|---|---|
| 24th September 2026 | Free Practice 1 (FP1) | 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm local time |
| 24th September 2026 | Free Practice 2 (FP2) | 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm local time |
| 25th September 2026 | Free Practice 3 (FP3) | 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm local time |
| 25th September 2026 | Qualifying | 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm local time |
| 26th September 2026 | Race | 3:00 pm local time |
Championship background
Kimi Antonelli arrived in Baku with a commanding 81-point lead in the championship after back-to-back victories at Monza and Madrid. With eight rounds scheduled to follow the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the opportunity for his pursuers to mount a sustained title challenge was beginning to disappear—and another Antonelli win would tighten his grip on the championship considerably.
Baku, however, is no place to assume the points are already won. Its high-speed straights, unforgiving braking zones and closely packed barriers demand total commitment in qualifying and absolute concentration across the race. A minor misjudgement can turn into a costly retirement in an instant.
Oscar Piastri discovered precisely that as championship leader at the circuit during the 2025 season, when Baku’s walls punished his mistake. It would be a timely warning for Antonelli: his advantage may be substantial, but on a weekend this volatile, the title picture can change far more quickly than the standings suggest.
Race entries
The lineup of drivers and teams remained the same as the 2026 season’s entry list, featuring no reserve drivers for the race.
Tyre choices
More to follow…
FIND OUT MORE
Free Practice
More to follow…
Free Practice 1 Classification
2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP1, Thursday 24th September 2026
Results to follow…
Free Practice 2 Classification
2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP2, Thursday 24th September 2026
Results to follow…
Free Practice 3 Classification
2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP3, Friday 25th September 2026
Results to follow…
Qualifying
Full report post-session.
Full Qualifying Report
Qualifying Classification
2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying, Friday 25th September 2026
Results to follow…
What happened in the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
More to follow…
2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix race results
The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Race was held on Saturday 26th September 2026 at 3:00 pm local time.
Results to follow…
2026 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings
Championship standings for Drivers’ and Teams after the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
2026 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings
Results to follow…
2026 Post-Race F1 Constructors’ Championship Standings
Results to follow…
Seen in:
