Formula 1 returns from its post-Madrid break with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit, and this year the race itself falls on a Saturday. Round 15 of the 2026 season runs from Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, September 26, with the grand prix starting at 3pm local time (12:00 BST / 11:00 UTC / 7am ET). The schedule was shifted forward by a day at the request of the promoter and government stakeholders to accommodate Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day on Sunday, September 27.
Full session times (local Baku time, UTC+4): Practice 1 on Thursday, September 24 at 12:30; Practice 2 on Thursday at 16:00; Practice 3 on Friday, September 25 at 12:30; Qualifying on Friday at 16:00; and the 51-lap race on Saturday, September 26 at 15:00. It is a standard weekend with no Sprint.
The 6.003km street circuit, which first hosted the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, combines a 2.2km flat-out run along the seafront with the tight, castle-wall section through the old city. The race distance is 306.049km and the lap record of 1:43.009 was set by Charles Leclerc in 2019.
Kimi Antonelli arrives in Baku with a commanding lead in the drivers’ championship after back-to-back wins at Monza and Madrid. The Mercedes driver has 292 points to team-mate George Russell’s 211, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton third on 191, McLaren’s Lando Norris fourth on 186 and Charles Leclerc fifth on 167. Mercedes lead the constructors’ standings with 503 points, 145 clear of Ferrari (358), with McLaren (306) and Red Bull (230) next.
Baku is the first of nine remaining rounds in 2026. It is followed by the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is being staged at Sepang in Malaysia this year, on October 2-4, and the Singapore Grand Prix on October 9-11.
