Baku City Circuit

The Baku City Circuit is a street circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, close to Baku Boulevard. A lap is 6.003 km long with 20 corners, and the cars run anti-clockwise. The layout was drawn up by circuit architect Hermann Tilke.

The lap begins beside Azadliq Square and loops around Government House. A straight of roughly 1 km then heads west towards the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower, where the track narrows to 7.6 m and climbs. It then winds around the Old City before a 2.2 km run along Neftchilar Avenue brings the cars back to the start line. Long straights alternate with slow, technical sections, and the walls sit close to the track. The tight layout through urban parkland shares similarities with Montjuïc, which staged the Spanish Grand Prix in the 1970s.

In December 2013 Bernie Ecclestone, then Formula One's chief executive, first suggested 2016 for the race and later 2015. In July 2014 it was announced that the debut would be put back to 2016. The first world championship race at the circuit was the 2016 European Grand Prix, won by Nico Rosberg for Mercedes. From 2017 the event has been the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and there was no race in 2020. Problems appeared early: Pirelli found that bolts securing the kerbs had cut many rear tyres in free practice in 2016. In 2019 the first practice session was cancelled after George Russell hit a loose drain cover. The circuit was also on the 2026 calendar. Formula 2 holds a championship round there.