2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Fast Facts | F1 News

• The Azerbaijan Grand Prix moves to Saturday for 2026, with practice on Thursday and qualifying on Friday, so the race doesn’t fall on the same day as Azerbaijan’s national Remembrance Day, observed every 27 September
• Pirelli has brought its softest range for Baku, C3 Hard, C4 Medium and C5 Soft, one step harder than last year’s selection, and low wear on the smooth, low-abrasion asphalt makes a one-stop race the likely outcome again
• Charles Leclerc has taken four consecutive Baku poles, the outright record at the circuit, while Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen are the only two-time winners and Red Bull leads all constructors with five wins

The Circuit: Street Racing At Very High Speed

Baku City Circuit runs 6.003 kilometres through the Azerbaijani capital, with 20 corners mixing highly technical sections through the Old City, some of them at right angles, with long straights where cars reach some of the highest speeds anywhere on the calendar. Sections of Turns 2, 3 and 4 have been resurfaced ahead of this year’s race, work limited to specific areas that shouldn’t affect tyre behaviour on its own.

Like most street circuits, grip is expected to start low and build significantly across the weekend as rubber lays down on the surface, a bigger factor here than the resurfacing itself.

Why The Race Moved To Saturday

This year’s weekend runs a day earlier than usual: practice on Thursday, qualifying on Friday, and the race on Saturday at 15:00 local time. The change avoids a clash with Azerbaijan’s national Remembrance Day, observed every 27 September in memory of those killed in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, which falls on the Sunday this year.

Tyres: A Harder Selection Than Last Year

Pirelli has selected C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as Soft for Baku, its softest range on the compound scale but one step harder than 2025’s allocation, which ran the C6 as Soft. That softest compound went unused on race day last year, drivers preferring to extend stints on the C5 and C4 for greater strategic flexibility instead.

The relatively smooth, low-abrasion asphalt should keep wear and degradation low again this year, making a one-stop race the most likely scenario. Pirelli expects the C5 to be capable of long stints, a characteristic it compares to Monza, a circuit sharing some traits with Baku, while the Hard compound could go largely unused in the race itself. Some graining is possible in the opening sessions while grip is still low, though it isn’t expected to be a decisive factor.

The Loads A Street Circuit Doesn’t Usually Ask For

Despite being a street track, Baku places real load on the tyres, driven by its extremely long main straight and a string of low-speed acceleration zones, a genuine stop-and-go layout where braking stability and traction on corner exit matter as much as outright pace. Aerodynamic efficiency counts for a lot here too, and a low-drag car carries a clear advantage down that straight.

Temperature management is one of the more interesting technical threads this weekend. The long full-throttle run linking the final corner to Turn 1 promotes tyre cooling, helped by recent developments in wheel rim design, which raises the risk of lock-ups under heavy braking, particularly on the front axle. Ambient temperatures could help keep overheating in check too. Despite Baku’s generally warm climate, the buildings lining the circuit cast significant shade across large sections of track, limiting how far track temperature rises.

What Happened In 2025

Eleven drivers started last year’s race on the C5 Medium and nine on the C4 Hard. Every finisher completed the race on a single stop, and the C6 Soft, despite being available, was never used on Sunday. Esteban Ocon, forced into the pits on the opening lap after front wing damage, fitted a set of Mediums and completed the rest of the race distance on that same set.

Baku By The Numbers

This will be the tenth Formula 1 race held on the streets of Baku, eight of the previous nine run under the Azerbaijan Grand Prix name and one, in 2016, as the European Grand Prix. Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen are the only drivers to have won more than once here, with two victories each, and Red Bull is the most successful constructor with five wins. Charles Leclerc holds the outright pole record at the circuit, having started from the front four times in a row.

Toto Wolff On Starting The Triple-Header

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff previewed the weekend: “The last two race weekends have delivered good results, but they don’t change our assessment of where we stand. There are several teams capable of fighting at the front on any given weekend and in Madrid, we performed well but also benefited from things falling our way during the race. We are realistic about that.

“Now we head into the first of three triple-headers to end the season. It will be a demanding period for the whole team, both at the factories and trackside. There is very little time to reset between races, so preparation, reliability and operational execution become even more important. These are the moments where our championship position can be strengthened or lost.

“We start in Baku. It is one of the most unusual circuits on the calendar. It asks a lot from the car and the drivers. You need good straight-line speed, confidence in the braking zones and a car that can handle the low-speed corners through the old city.

“Recent results have been encouraging, but they don’t guarantee anything. Baku will expose any weakness very quickly. We have to approach the weekend with humility, do the basics well, and earn every point.”

Rob Marshall On Baku’s Extremes

McLaren’s Chief Technical Officer and Chief Designer, Rob Marshall, previewed the challenge from the team’s side: “Baku is a circuit of extremes, combining the longest straight in Formula 1 with some of the slowest corners, so there are significant compromises to manage. Straight Mode gives every team greater scope to run a low-drag car on the straights while retaining downforce through the corners, but the challenge remains the same: bring the best design and set-up choices, then execute them cleanly on track.

“We are still learning about these cars at every event, and we have both overperformed and underperformed against our expectations at different races this season. Baku will provide another valuable test of the MCL40 across a very different range of characteristics. Energy management and deployment will be particularly important, as will tyre and brake management with the cars arriving at Turn 1 after the long straight with these areas relatively cold.

“Operationally, there is very little margin for error on a tight street circuit. A small mistake can lead to significant repairs, lost track time and resources being diverted away from performance, so confidence, precision and disciplined execution will be essential throughout the weekend.”

Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Fast Facts

• This year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix marks a significant milestone as the event celebrates its 10th anniversary.
• The Baku City Circuit is the fourth longest on the F1 calendar this year.
• The 2.2 km start/finish straight contributes to a difficult restart for the leader, with a strong tow for the driver behind leaving them vulnerable into Turn 1.
• The name Baku derives from the shortened Persian name Bad-kuye, meaning “wind city”, along with Bad-kube, which means “wind-hitting.” Both terms refer to the famously consistently strong winds that blow through the city.
• Baku hosted an F1 Sprint weekend for the one and only time to date in 2023.
• In 2024, the event moved dates to September for the first time, having previously taken place in the first half of the season (April or May).
• F1 first visited Baku in 2016, when the race was known as the European Grand Prix. It has been known as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix every year since.
• The Mercedes team has recorded three wins in Baku with three different drivers – Nico Rosberg (2016), Lewis Hamilton (2018), and Valtteri Bottas (2019).
• Oracle Red Bull Racing is the most successful constructor in Azerbaijan GP history with five wins.  
• The only two drivers to have taken multiple race victories in Baku were both Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers (Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both have two wins each).
• Race day in Azerbaijan falls on the 27th anniversary of Ford’s last victory with the original incarnation of Red Bull, when Johnny Herbert won the 1999 European GP at the wheel of a Stewart SF3.

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Written by

Jarrod Partridge

Jarrod Partridge is the Co-Founder of F1 Chronicle and an FIA accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following Formula 1. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered F1 races at circuits around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every race report, driver profile, and technical analysis he writes.

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