The Azerbaijani Grand Prix will remain on the F1 calendar until at least 2023, after the race signed a new contract with Formula 1 Management.
The street race in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku held its first round of the world championship in 2016. Its original deal was for five years with an option for up to five more. Today’s announcement means the race will remain on the F1 schedule for another three seasons.F1 CEO Chase Carey said the sport’s owners are “very pleased to have renewed this agreement which will see the Azerbaijan Grand Prix feature on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar for many years to come.
“In just a short space of time, this race has become one of the most popular of the season, always producing closely fought and spectacular racing. The Republic of Azerbaijan provides a really excellent welcome to everyone in Formula 1 and the beautiful city of Baku is an amazing backdrop for the greatest motor racing show in the world.”
The Baku race was originally titled the European Grand Prix for its first season before adopting its current title.
Azerbaijan’s minister of sport and youth Azad Rahimov said the race is continuing to grow in popularity.
“Every year we have seen more and more fans from all over the world attend the race and have been overwhelmed at how well our event has been embraced by the global Formula 1 community,” he said.
“This new agreement will allow our race to maximise its commercial revenues through increased fan-engagement activities and a brand new sponsorship approach to engage our local and regional businesses with Formula 1’s global platform.”
Last year FOM extended the deals of the Belgian, Chinese, German, Japanese and Singapore races, and added the Vietnam Grand Prix to the 2020 F1 calendar.
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Jere (@jerejj)
5th February 2019, 9:16
Good.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
5th February 2019, 9:55
Yippee!
Fudge Kobayashi (@)
5th February 2019, 11:15
How the first race was the dullest thing i’d ever seen and then the subsequent two were highlights of their respective seasons I still don’t quite understand. Great news though.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
5th February 2019, 13:50
Fairly simple really. The subsequent races were highlights only because drivers overdid things and hit the walls.
The “excitement” really only existed because various cars had issues (crashes) and there were multiple safety cars that bunches up the field.
I suspect that if the drivers master the circuit better and don’t clip barriers, we’ll return to a fairly processional race.
Not complaining, I like tight circuits where the slightest mistake is costly, and this one at least isn’t forgiving like a lot of the Tilkedromes.
Asanator (@asanator)
5th February 2019, 14:32
It was because they all saw the carnage of the GP2 race the first year and raced a little more cautiously. It was forgotten about a year later.
Fudge Kobayashi (@)
5th February 2019, 15:41
👌
Bleu (@bleu)
5th February 2019, 14:00
Baku showed well that one race isn’t enough to conclude whether the circuit offers good racing or not. I usually tend to give each new circuit three races before making major conclusions.
pastaman (@)
5th February 2019, 12:31
“Well done Baku”
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
6th February 2019, 2:07
Beat me to it.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
5th February 2019, 14:32
First race was shockingly dull. Subsequent ones have been a lot of fun but that’s mostly because of on-track drama. There’s a lot to like about the track visually but whether it’s a good long term addition I think is a bit uncertain. That said it’s better than Sochi or Valencia.
rpaco
5th February 2019, 17:07
Is Flav getting paid for the extension as well?