- F1 Breaks Sunday Tradition in Baku as Azerbaijan Gp Moves to Saturday
Formula 1 will break with its traditional Sunday race format when the Azerbaijan Grand Prix takes place in Baku on Saturday, September 26, creating an unusual timetable for one of the championship’s most unpredictable street races.
The entire weekend has been brought forward by a day, with practice beginning on Thursday and qualifying scheduled for Friday.
The change has been made because Sunday, September 27, is Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day, prompting organisers to stage the Grand Prix a day earlier.
The unusual timetable comes at a potentially decisive stage of the championship, with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli arriving in Baku holding an 81-point lead after consecutive victories at Monza and Madrid.
Eight rounds are scheduled to remain after Azerbaijan, leaving his rivals increasingly short of opportunities to close the gap if the Italian continues accumulating points at his current rate. Baku, however, has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to disrupt apparently comfortable championship positions through crashes, safety cars and unpredictable race sequences.
Antonelli’s position reflects a remarkable 2026 campaign in which he has established himself as the championship benchmark through a combination of wins and consistent high finishes. Formula 1’s official results show victories this year in China, Japan, Canada, Monaco, Belgium, Italy and Spain, giving the Mercedes driver considerable momentum heading towards the flyaway portion of the season. Azerbaijan begins a run of races that will take Formula 1 away from Europe and towards the final stretch of the championship.
Baku nevertheless offers little room for a driver to simply manage a championship lead. The 6.003-kilometre Baku City Circuit combines some of Formula 1’s highest straight-line speeds with narrow sections bordered by unforgiving walls, creating one of the calendar’s more contradictory layouts. Cars can exceed 200mph along the circuit’s long main straight before being funnelled through tight, historic streets where even minor errors can end a race.
The most distinctive section comes around the ancient city, where the track narrows to just 7.6 metres through the castle complex. That sequence demands precision at relatively low speed before drivers accelerate back towards wider sections of the circuit, making setup compromises particularly difficult.
The combination of a long straight, heavy braking zones and narrow corners has historically encouraged overtaking while also increasing the risk of contact between cars and barriers.
Formula 1 first raced in Baku in 2016 under the European Grand Prix title before the event became the Azerbaijan Grand Prix the following year.
The official circuit information lists a race distance of 306.049 kilometres over 51 laps, with Charles Leclerc’s 1:43.009 from 2019 recorded as the fastest race lap.
The circuit’s relatively recent history has nevertheless produced enough dramatic races to give Baku a reputation for unpredictability disproportionate to its age.
The Saturday race means teams will also have to adjust their normal operational rhythm. First and second practice take place on Thursday, followed by final practice and qualifying on Friday before the Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon local time. Official Formula 1 timings place qualifying at 4pm in Baku on Friday and the race at 3pm local time on Saturday, corresponding to midday in the UK.
For teams, losing the familiar Friday-to-Sunday sequence does not reduce preparation time because the entire programme has simply shifted forward, but it alters travel, engineering and media schedules across the paddock. Drivers will need to reach competitive pace quickly on Thursday as teams begin evaluating tyres, aerodynamic balance and long-run performance on a circuit where confidence is especially important.
A compromised opening day can leave little margin for recovery before Friday qualifying on a track where starting position can matter despite the opportunities for overtaking.
Weather is unlikely to add a major complication, at least based on current forecasts cited by Sky Sports. Conditions in Baku are expected to remain warm and dry, with daytime temperatures reaching the mid-20s Celsius through race week.
That should give teams relatively stable conditions in which to judge tyre behaviour, although the street circuit can still evolve significantly as more rubber is laid down during the weekend.
The championship context makes that preparation particularly important for Antonelli’s challengers. With the Mercedes driver arriving from back-to-back victories, rivals such as Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and George Russell cannot rely indefinitely on Antonelli surrendering points through ordinary performance variation.
Baku’s walls and potential for disrupted races may therefore represent one of the remaining venues where the championship order can change quickly if the leader encounters trouble.
The Azerbaijan round will also launch the first leg of a flyaway sequence before Formula 1 travels on to its next races in Asia. The official calendar lists Baku as round 15, followed by a Malaysia-hosted Bahrain-named event in early October and Singapore a week later, before the championship continues through the Americas and Middle East.
That compressed run means any points lost in Azerbaijan will have little recovery time before the next competitive weekend arrives.
For broadcasters and spectators, the most visible difference will simply be the date. Sky Sports will carry every Formula 1 session live in the UK and Ireland, with its race build-up beginning at 10.30am UK time on Saturday ahead of a noon start, while qualifying coverage begins on Friday before the 1pm session.
Formula 1’s rare Saturday Grand Prix gives Baku an additional point of distinction this year, but the greater intrigue lies in whether one of the sport’s most unforgiving circuits can finally interrupt Antonelli’s accelerating march towards the 2026 title.
