F1: Race Week in Baku

Overview

Formula 1 returns to the Baku City Circuit this week for the 15th round of the 2026 season, and the weekend runs to an unusual timetable. Free practice starts on Thursday, 24 September, qualifying follows on Friday, and the Grand Prix itself takes place on Saturday, 26 September, starting at 15:00 local time, which is 13:00 in Brussels. The whole programme has been moved forward by one day because Sunday, 27 September is Azerbaijan's Remembrance Day, a national day of mourning for the soldiers killed in the 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh. It is the first time the Baku race has been held on a Saturday, and one of only two Saturday races this season, alongside Las Vegas.

The circuit is 6.003 kilometres long, one of the longest on the calendar, and the race will run over 51 laps. Baku also opens a flyaway triple header, with Malaysia and Singapore to follow.

Circuit

Baku combines two very different tracks in one lap. The main straight along the Caspian shoreline is one of the longest in Formula 1, and cars running in each other's slipstream can arrive at Turn 1 three abreast, which makes overtaking here more common than on most street circuits. Away from the seafront, the layout turns into the narrow streets of Icheri Sheher, the old town, passing close to the medieval city walls. In this section there is almost no room for error, and a small mistake usually ends in the barriers.

This creates a set-up dilemma for every team. More downforce helps through the slow, twisty sections, while less drag is needed for speed on the long straight, and no car can have both. Baku has a long history of chaotic races as a result. Last year, then championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out, a reminder of how quickly a title position can change here.

Standings

Kimi Antonelli leads the Drivers' Championship with 292 points, after consecutive wins in Monza and Madrid. George Russell is second on 211 points, 81 behind his Mercedes teammate. Lewis Hamilton holds third for Ferrari on 191 points, but his retirement with brake failure in Madrid, his first of the season, left him 101 points off the lead. Lando Norris is fourth on 186 points, just five behind Hamilton, with Charles Leclerc fifth on 167.

In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes leads with 503 points against 358 for Ferrari. The German team has won 10 of the 14 races held so far this season.

Current Form of the Drivers

Antonelli, at 20 the youngest championship leader in Formula 1 history, has taken eight wins this season, including a run of four in a row earlier in the year. His win in Madrid was not his most dominant, since he started second behind Norris and made two mistakes while trying to pass him, but a well-timed pit stop under a virtual safety car gave him the lead. That he still wins on days when he is not the fastest is exactly what title winners tend to do.

Norris, the reigning world champion after winning the 2025 title by two points, has been the strongest driver outside Mercedes in recent weeks. He took pole in Madrid and was leading until the virtual safety car came out just after he had passed the pit entrance, which dropped him to third. His pace suggests McLaren can win races before the end of the year, but with a gap of more than 100 points to Antonelli, retaining his title is now a very distant prospect.

Max Verstappen finished second in Madrid and sits sixth in the standings, a long way from the title fight in a difficult season for Red Bull. Baku, however, suits him. He won here last year, and the long straight rewards a car with low drag and a driver who manages traffic well. He is a genuine contender for victory on Saturday.

Will Antonelli Win the Championship?

After Baku there are eight rounds left, which means the field is running out of time. Antonelli's lead over Russell is already worth more than three race wins, and his nearest rival drives the same car, so a sudden swing in performance between them is unlikely. For Russell to close the gap, Antonelli would need a run of poor results rather than a single bad weekend.

That is why Baku carries more risk than most races for the leader. The walls are close, safety cars are frequent, and one error can cost a full race of points. A clean weekend would bring Antonelli closer to becoming the youngest world champion in the sport's history. DNF would give his rivals their best chance in weeks.