The Baku street circuit celebrates a decade in the Formula 1 calendar. Since its debut in 2016, the streets of the Azerbaijani capital have been the scene of unexpected victories, crashes, championship battles and some of the most unpredictable races of the modern era.
Formula 1 returns this weekend to one of the most particular circuits on its calendar. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is held in the streets of Baku, a layout that in 2026 celebrates ten years since its arrival in the championship and that, in barely a decade, built an identity of its own. It is a combination difficult to find elsewhere: a long straight next to the Caspian Sea, high-speed corners, heavy braking and a narrow passage between the ancient walls of the Old City.
The Baku City Circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke and is 6.003 kilometers long, with 20 corners and a total race distance of 306.049 kilometers, spread over 51 laps. Its official lap record belongs to Charles Leclerc, who in 2019 set a time of 1:43.009. But beyond its numbers, the main characteristic of Baku is in the contrast it proposes during every lap. Drivers go from extremely fast sectors to one of the narrowest parts of the entire calendar.
Formula 1's first visit took place in 2016, although that race did not yet bear the name Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The event was called the European Grand Prix and Nico Rosberg took the victory for Mercedes after starting from pole and leading all 51 laps. Sebastian Vettel finished second and Sergio Pérez completed the podium with Force India. It was the beginning of a story that would quickly acquire a much more unpredictable character.
From 2017, the event was officially renamed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. And the second edition already showed much of what Baku could offer. Daniel Ricciardo, who had started from tenth position, took advantage of a race full of incidents to achieve one of his most remembered victories. The Australian also produced a spectacular overtake on the main straight, passing several rivals before reaching the first corner.
But that race was especially marked by the rivalry between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. During a Safety Car period, Vettel hit the rear of Hamilton's Mercedes and then placed himself alongside him to make a second contact. The German received a ten-second penalty and lost his chances of fighting for the victory. Hamilton, for his part, had to make an unexpected stop due to a problem with the headrest. Ricciardo ended up inheriting the win.
A year later, Baku once again delivered a completely different race. In 2018, the protagonists were the Red Bull teammates themselves. Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo had been fighting for much of the race until, on lap 40, the Australian tried to pass the Dutchman and ended up hitting him from behind. Both cars were out of the race.
The race still had another surprise prepared. Valtteri Bottas had managed to place himself in a position to win after a strategy that took him to the lead in the final part. He seemed on track to achieve a victory he especially needed that season, but a few laps from the end he suffered a puncture in the right rear tire. Lewis Hamilton inherited the win. Baku was once again demonstrating that a race could change completely in a matter of seconds.
In 2019 another of the usual protagonists of the circuit's recent history appeared: Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque was extremely fast throughout the weekend and seemed on track to fight for pole, but he made a mistake at the narrow turn 8 during Q2 and hit the barriers. His reaction on the radio, with the phrase "I am stupid", became one of the most remembered moments of that weekend.
Leclerc would end up transforming that frustration into a strength in qualifying. The Ferrari driver subsequently achieved four consecutive poles in Baku between 2021 and 2024, although he failed to convert any of them into a victory. His best opportunity came in 2024, when he finished second behind Oscar Piastri.
The 2020 edition was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the next race in the streets of Baku came in 2021. That event became one of the most dramatic in the circuit's history. Max Verstappen had the victory practically assured when he suffered a sudden puncture five laps from the end and crashed into the barriers on the main straight. Shortly before, Lance Stroll had had a similar problem.
The race was stopped with a red flag and a restart was prepared for the last two laps. Sergio Pérez started first and Hamilton second, but the Briton locked up at the first corner and went straight, after accidentally activating a brake setting that harmed his braking. Pérez thus achieved one of his most important victories with Red Bull.
Precisely Pérez became over the years the most successful driver in Baku. The Mexican also won in 2023 and is, so far, the only driver who has managed to impose himself twice in the streets of the Azerbaijani capital. His victories in 2021 and 2023 built a special relationship with a circuit that rewards precision, speed and the ability to survive unpredictable races.
Max Verstappen won the 2022 edition and Pérez did so again in 2023. In 2024 a new story arrived. Oscar Piastri overtook Leclerc in an intense fight for the lead and achieved his first victory in Baku. The race ended with a dramatic crash between Pérez and Carlos Sainz while both were fighting for third place in the last laps. George Russell took advantage of the incident to climb onto the podium.
In 2025, Verstappen won again in Baku and did so convincingly. The Dutchman took pole, led every lap and also set the fastest lap to complete a Grand Slam. George Russell finished second and Carlos Sainz achieved with Williams his first podium with the team. The race also began dramatically for McLaren, since Oscar Piastri retired after a crash in the first laps.
The history of Baku is also explained through its particular geography. The circuit crosses the modern area of the capital, borders the Caspian seafront promenade and then enters Icheri Sheher, the Old City, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. There appears one of the most characteristic sections of the calendar: turns 8, 9 and 10, where the track measures barely 7.6 meters wide. The cars climb between the ancient walls with very little room to correct a mistake.
After crossing that historic area, the layout opens up again and leads into the very long main straight. There the drivers reach very high speeds and the slipstream can become a decisive element for overtaking. The braking for the first corner comes just 141 meters after the finish line, one of the shortest distances on the calendar between the line and the first braking point.
That combination forces the teams to seek a permanent compromise in the setup. They need enough aerodynamic load to survive in the castle section, but they must also reduce drag to take advantage of the enormous straights. A car can be very competitive in one sector and lose performance in another, making qualifying and the race have completely different readings.
In 2026, Baku also arrives with a decade of history in Formula 1 and with its future assured. Formula 1 and the organizers renewed the agreement in 2025 to keep the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the calendar until 2030. The circuit, which in a short time became one of the most recognizable venues of the championship, will continue to be part of the calendar during the coming years.
Ten years after that first race won by Rosberg, Baku keeps its essence practically intact. It is a circuit that can offer a strategic race, a slipstream fight on the main straight or an unexpected twist in the last laps. The walls are close, the straight is endless and the margin for error disappears in a matter of meters.
That is precisely the story that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix built since 2016: a modern venue around a millenary city, where Formula 1 found one of the most unpredictable circuits on its calendar.
