The Baku City Circuit () is a

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

located in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan constructed near

Baku Boulevard Baku Boulevard (, also known as National Park) is a promenade established in 1909 which runs parallel to Baku's seafront. Its history goes back more than 100 years, to a time when Baku oil barons built their mansions along the Caspian Sea, Caspi ...

. A lap of the circuit is , making it the fourth-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar (after

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

, Jeddah Street Circuit and

Las Vegas Strip Circuit The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is a street circuit around parts of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, immediately adjacent to Las Vegas, Nevada. It winds through the streets of the city and comprises the Las Vegas Strip, a section of Las Veg ...

). The inaugural Formula One race at the circuit was the 2016 European Grand Prix and its support events. A year later, in 2017, the circuit held the inaugural

Azerbaijan Grand Prix The Azerbaijan Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor racing event that was held for the first time in . It is held on the Baku City Circuit, a street circuit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The event is due to take place at the Baku City Ci ...

. The event is organised by Baku City Circuit Operation Company ().

History

Development

In December 2013, Formula One President and CEO

Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate, motorsport executive and former racing driver. Widely known in journalism as the "F1 Supremo", Ecclestone founded the Formula One Group in 1987, controlling the c ...

suggested that the race would be run in but later said that because the

Korean Grand Prix The Korean Grand Prix () was a Formula One race held in South Korea, from 2010 until 2013, when it was dropped from the Formula One calendar. History On 2 October 2006, it was confirmed that the event would take place in 2010, and would be ho ...

organisers were in

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

, it would be moved to . However, in July 2014 it was announced that the race's debut would be delayed until 2016.

Design

Baku-F1-Street-Circuit-Openstreetmaps-rev1

The , anti-clockwise layout of the circuit was designed by circuit architect

Hermann Tilke Hermann Tilke (born 31 December 1954) is a German engineer, racing driver and circuit designer, who has designed numerous Formula One motor racing circuits. His son is architect Carsten Tilke. Racing During the 1980s, Tilke competed in touring ...

. The circuit starts adjacent to Azadliq Square, then loops around

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

before heading west along a straight to the

Palace of the Shirvanshahs The Palace of the Shirvanshahs (, ) is a 15th-century palace built by the Shirvanshahs and described by UNESCO as "one of the pearls of Azerbaijan's architecture". It is located in the Inner City of Baku, Azerbaijan and, together with the Maiden ...

and Maiden Tower. Here, the track has a narrow uphill traversal and then circles the Old City before opening up onto a stretch along

Neftchilar Avenue Neftchiler Avenue (; literally Oil Worker's Avenue) is an arterial road in Baku, Azerbaijan. It begins at the west end of the Bayil district of Baku and continues east until terminating at Javanshir Bridge (formerly Gagarin Bridge) intersectin ...

back to the start line. The circuit was projected to be the fastest

in the world, with a top speed close to and the second-longest circuit on the current F1 calendar, behind the

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The circuit's tight layout through urban parkland shares similarities with the

Montjuïc circuit The Montjuïc circuit was a street circuit located on the Montjuïc mountain in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The circuit was also the venue for the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix from 1950 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 1950 to 1968 Grand Pr ...

which hosted the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...

in the 1970s. The 2016 GP2 race, which was in support of the 2016 European Grand Prix, saw 12 out of 22 drivers fail to finish.

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver, who serves as a reserve driver in Formula One for Mercedes. Bottas competed in Formula One from to , and twice finished runner-up in the World Drivers' Championship in ...

set a new unofficial Formula 1 top speed record in qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix when Williams claimed to have data showing him reaching , eclipsing the previous record of set in 2005 by

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grand ...

for

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

while testing at

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza The Monza Circuit ( Italian: ; ) is a race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis and the oldest in mainland Euro ...

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

found that 90% of the rear tyres used in free practice for the 2016 Grand Prix had been cut by the bolts securing kerbs to the ground not being drilled into the ground far enough, while

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. Button competed in Formula One from to , and won the World Drivers' Championship in with Brawn; ...

and

Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German and Finnish former racing driver and entrepreneur, who competed under the German flag in Formula One from to . Rosberg won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes, and w ...

expressed concern over the lack of run-off areas which would be dangerous in the case of an incident such as a high speed puncture or mechanical failure.

was forced to miss the whole of Free Practice 3 when a drain cover came loose and caused significant damage to his Williams FW38. Similarly, the first practice session of the

2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix The 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 SOCAR Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 28 April 2019 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The race was the 4th round of the 201 ...

was cancelled when George Russell hit a loose drain cover. Many drivers praised the circuit for the challenge offered by its mixture of long straights, slow technical sections and no margin for error due to the proximity of the walls. In 2021, Rosberg criticised the location of the pit lane entrance adjacent to the main straight, calling it "one of the places I always found the most dangerous of the whole year". Formula One race director

Michael Masi Michael Fausto Masi (born 8 June 1978) is an Australian motorsports official. Masi served as Formula One race director from 2019 to 2021. In this role, Masi oversaw the logistics of a Formula One racing weekend, ensuring all cars, tracks, and ...

disagreed with Rosberg, saying the venue "fulfils all of the various safety requirements that the FIA has within its regulation requirements.". In October 2022, Arif Rahimov was dismissed from the post of Executive Director of Baku City Circuit, after he had held this position for the past 7 years. Magsud Farzullayev was appointed acting executive director.

Events

; Current * September:

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

'',

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship (F2) is a second-tier single-seater championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on road racing, racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the re ...

'' Baku Formula 2 round'' ; Former *

** ''

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...

'' (2016) *

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

(2016)

Lap records

As of April 2023, the fastest official race lap records at the Baku City Circuit are listed as:

References

External links

Official website
{{GP2 Series circuits Formula One circuits Motorsport venues in Azerbaijan Sports venues in Baku Buildings and structures in Baku European Grand Prix Azerbaijan Grand Prix Tourist attractions in Baku Racing circuits designed by Hermann Tilke Sports venues completed in 2016 2016 establishments in Azerbaijan