Formula One is heading to Azerbaijan for the 15th race of the 2026 season. Currently, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli sits at the top of the standings with 292 points and is looking to win his third race in a row and ninth of the season.
In his way is McLaren’s Lando Norris, who won his first two races of the season in Hungary and the Netherlands earlier this season and is fourth in the standings with 186 points.
Currently, there are only nine drivers in championship contention: Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Red Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Norris, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ George Russell and Antonelli.
In the Constructors Championship, Mercedes takes the top spot with 503 points while Ferrari and McLaren lag behind with 358 and 306 points respectively.
This weekend’s schedule will differ from normal, with on-track racing from Thursday to Sunday rather than the usual Friday through Sunday. F1 moved the Grand Prix to Saturday to accommodate Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day, which falls on Sept. 27 this year. The day is observed to honor those who died during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Azerbaijan’s Baku City Circuit is a street circuit that held its first Grand prix in 2016 where Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez finished on the podium.
Over the past 10 years, F1 has raced at the circuit nine times including this upcoming weekend. The only year they didn’t race at Baku was 2020 when 13 races were cancelled, including the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The drivers with the most wins at Baku are Verstappen and Perez, who both won two races at the street circuit. Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Piastri all won one race.
The constructor with the most wins at Baku is Red Bull who won it five times while Mercedes won it thrice and McLaren won it once.
Last season, Verstappen tamed the circuit, winning by almost 15 seconds ahead of Russell and 19 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz who took the final podium spot. Verstappen also took pole position with a time of 1:41.117.
Mercedes is looking to keep their perfect track record at street circuits this season. Russell won at Albert Park while Antonelli won the Miami and Monaco Grand Prix.
On Thursday, Sept. 24, Free Practice 1 takes place at 4:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time while Free Practice 2 is happening at 8 a.m.
On Friday, Sept. 25, Free Practice 3 is at 4:30 a.m. once again while Qualifying takes place at 8 a.m.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 a.m.
In the United States, you can watch the weekend activities on Apple TV or F1TV. You can also listen to all the sessions on SiriusXM.