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The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan – Information, schedule, stream

The fourth round of this year’s Formula 1 season is slowly but surely around the corner. After three opening races and a month’s break, the queen of motorsport is back on the scene, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fourth race of the twenty-three scheduled this year, scheduled for the weekend of 28-30 April. So what’s the schedule and where can you follow the entire race weekend?

Published

1 year ago

25. 4. 2023

Tomáš Myšák

Zdroj: Getty Images, Red Bull Content Pool

The fourth round of this year’s Formula 1 season is slowly but surely around the corner. The queen of motorsport is back on the scene after three opening races and a month’s break, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fourth race of the twenty-three scheduled this year, scheduled for the weekend of 28-30 April. So what’s the schedule and where can you follow the entire race weekend?

The first Grand Prix was held at the Baku circuit in 2016, albeit as part of the European Grand Prix. It was only at the start of the 2017 season that the race was officially designated as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the first time.

And even in its first year, the race brought great confusion and controversy – Sebastian Vettel crashed into Lewis Hamilton behind the safety car that year, and the race was eventually dominated by Daniel Ricciardo in a Red Bull monoposto.

In 2021, the event was linked to a fierce battle for the title when Max Verstappen crashed due to a puncture and on the subsequent restart from a strong position, Hamilton went off the track and dropped to the very tail of the grid. Sergio Pérez won the race in Baku last year.

And last year the Red Bull team took a clear double here, with Verstappen taking the win and Pérez finishing second. Third and fourth place went to both Mercedes, with George Russell on the podium and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.

Baku City Circuit

The track itself is 6.003km long and consists of twenty corners. Baku City Circuit, as the official name of the circuit goes, offers two DRS zones, one in the area of the very long finishing straight and then on the next straight between turns 2 and 3.

Detection points can then be found at the exit of the last corner and before turn 2. Formula 1 has scheduled the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the standard 51 laps, during which the drivers will cover just over 306 kilometres.

But as well as the detection points, you can also see the average speeds that the drivers reach at each corner, and what gear they usually shift into at that corner.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix – programme

The race weekend at the Baku circuit kicks off on Friday 28 April at 11:30am our time, when drivers and teams will take part in the first free practice session (officially called Free Practice 1 – ed. note). On the occasion of the VC of Azerbaijan, however, we will see the first sprint this year.

So, as the race weekend schedule commands, due to the sprint format, all the players will leave at 15:00 on Friday for qualifying, which will however now determine the grid order for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Indeed, Formula 1 recently confirmed a change to the format of the sprint race weekend. There will be no second free practice on Saturday, instead everyone will take part in qualifying, which will determine the starting order for the subsequent sprint.

We cover this news in detail in the article above, with the 100km sprint itself scheduled for 15:30. The race is scheduled for Sunday as usual. All five lights on the Baku City Circuit will go out on Sunday, April 30, at exactly 13::00.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix – stream

Live coverage of the F1 race can be watched on Sport 1 and Sport 2 TV stations, where you can switch between Czech or Slovak audio tracks. However, F1 TV is also available, where you can switch between the onboard cameras of individual drivers.

But F1 TV also offers other features, such as livetiming and detailed telemetry. In addition to the full F1 programme, you can also watch press conferences or practice sessions and F2 or F3 qualifying.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix – odds and predictions

The start of the season is clearly in Red Bull’s hands so far, with its drivers scoring double in both of the first races. Verstappen won in Bahrain ahead of his teammate Pérez, with the order reversed in Saudi Arabia.

At the Melbourne circuit for the Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull finished first again, this time with Verstappen winning. Mexican Pérez started from the back of the grid after problems in qualifying and eventually finished fifth.

In Baku, Red Bull will again be the favourite to win. However, who will challenge for the other places on the podium is the big question. In the month-long break, the teams have worked hard to reduce the gap, and Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes could repeat their podium finish from Australia in Baku.