Baku Welcomes 2017 Formula 1 Grand Prix

Baku is under the spotlight this week, as the 2017 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is bringing together some of the world’s best motorsport racing drivers and whose route passes through the capital city’s spectacular central area along the western shore of the Caspian Sea.

The three-day tournament kicked off Friday with practice sessions and Formula 2 racings, which serve to support the year’s major 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar. The final contest will take place on Sunday.

Twenty one F1 pilots representing 10 teams, including Mercedes, Renault, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull will be racing along the Baku City Circuit, the second-longest F1 track in the world and measuring a length of slightly over six kilometers. The toughest point along the track is its narrowest, measuring just 7.6 meters wide.

The circuit runs through Baku’s UNESCO-protected Old City, or the Icheri Sheher historical-architectural reserve, the city’s modern skyline, and along the Caspian Sea promenade.

“Hosting the race in the city center is of great significance for promoting Baku. The city looks magnificent, and thus we’re attracting people to come to the tournament,” Nigar Arpadarai, a spokesperson for the Baku City Circuit told Caspian News.

World-renowned driver Lewis Hamilton, racing for Mercedes, is shooting to win this year’s race. 

“I feel that we are better prepared this year than we were 12 months ago,” Hamilton said, according to remarks posted to the F1 official website.

This year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix marks the second time Baku is playing host to an FIA Formula One World Championship race, with its first having been last year. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the eighth segment of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship, the 71st season of Formula One motor racing.

Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, or “FIA,” holds the Formula 1 Grand Prix annually based on a tournament calendar featuring nearly 20 different destinations around the world, which also includes Sochi in another Caspian region state, namely Russia. Under a 10-year contract with the FIA, Baku will host more races in the next eight years. 

A Caspian Sea port city, Baku boasts an eclectic mix of the ancient and historic with the modern and avant-garde. Structures dotting the cityscape include the 12th century Maiden Tower, as well as the ultra-modern high-rise trio of buildings known as the Flame Towers. Situated along the western edge of the Caspian Sea, the city once formed part of the famed Great Silk Road, once the world’s largest trade and transport route between China and Europe. 

The next and ninth stage of the rally will be held at the Red Bull Ring racing circuit in Spielberg, Austria from July 7-9, while the 20th and final stage of this year’s F1 calendar will take place in Abu Dhabi in November.