F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021

Initially held as the European Grand Prix in 2016, the Baku City Circuit hosted the first Azerbaijan Grand Prix a year later in one of the four street courses on the calendar in 2017.

Designed by architect Hermann Tilke, the circuit follows a series of right-angled turns into rapid flat-out sections which before the introduction of new aerodynamics rules in 2016 pushed cars to speeds of over 360 km/h.

Comparable to the tight twists of Monaco in the way that the track forces drivers to both commit to each turn while being aware of the perils of straying too close to the edge, the Baku City Circuit has been the site of numerous high-speed crashes. Charles Leclerc learned that the hard way in 2019 by crashing at Turn 8 in qualifying. The section is the tightest on the F1 calendar and sees the cars round Baku’s UNESCO-protected old city walls.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2020

The race wasn’t held in 2020, but 2019 saw Valtteri Bottas take pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The Finn kept his head and crossed the line for his fifth career victory, with Hamilton taking second and Sebastian Vettel rounding out the podium. Of note, the race also saw Daniel Ricciardo issued a penalty for the following race after colliding with Daniil Kvyat. The two missed Turn 3, but in Ricciardo’s attempts to get back on track, he reversed into the Russian with both cars forced to retire from the race.

When is the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the F1 calendar?
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on the weekend of June 4-6 and is provisionally set to be the sixth race of the Formula 1 season. The first two free practice sessions will take place on June 4 with qualifying on Saturday June 5 at 15:00 CET.

What time does the Azerbaijan Grand Prix start?
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts on Sunday June 6, 2021 at 14:00 CET. The race can be followed live on RacingNews365’s live blog.