Baku City Circuit
Baku, Azerbaijan
The Baku City Circuit is a street track combining one of the longest straights in Formula 1 with an extremely tight, twisting section that squeezes cars past the walls of the Old City's medieval fortress. This contrast between high-speed running and low-speed precision makes it uniquely difficult to set up a car for. It regularly produces safety cars and late-race incidents thanks to its unforgiving barriers.
Length
6.003 km
Turns
20
Race Laps
51
Elevation
20m
First GP
2016
Lap Record
1:43.009
Charles Leclerc (2019)
Famous Corners
Turn 8
Castle Section
Location
Nearest Town
The circuit runs through the heart of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, along its Caspian Sea waterfront boulevard. Baku blends modern glass towers with the UNESCO-listed Old City, whose narrow lanes the circuit skirts around. The city has hosted the race since 2016, quickly becoming known for its distinctive castle-section corners.
Getting There
Heydar Aliyev International Airport is around 25-30 minutes from the city centre and circuit by car. Baku's compact centre and metro system put most fan zones and the paddock within easy reach of downtown hotels.
Circuit History & Trivia
Notable Incidents
The Baku City Circuit's early years were marked by problems with loose drain covers rather than driver error. At the 2016 European Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas missed the final practice session after a drain cover came loose and badly damaged his Williams, and Pirelli subsequently found that around 90 percent of rear tyres used in practice had been cut by bolts securing track kerbs. The issue recurred at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when George Russell struck another loose drain cover, forcing the cancellation of the first practice session. These incidents highlighted the challenges of running a brand-new street circuit at very high speeds and led organizers to review track surface fixtures ahead of subsequent races.
Design History
Designed by Hermann Tilke, the 6.003 km Baku City Circuit runs anti-clockwise, starting adjacent to Azadliq Square before looping past Government House and heading west along a roughly 1 km straight toward the historic Old City. Its most distinctive design element is a narrow, uphill section barely 7.6 metres wide that threads through the Old City's medieval streets, immediately followed by a long, roughly 2.2 km run down Neftchilar Avenue that produces some of the highest speeds reached anywhere on the calendar. Early safety reviews flagged concerns about insufficient run-off areas in places and a pit lane entrance positioned close to the 350 km/h main straight, reflecting the inherent challenge of threading a modern high-speed circuit through a dense historic cityscape.
Records & Notable Races
Charles Leclerc holds the Formula One race lap record at Baku, set at 1:43.009 in a Ferrari SF90 during the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The circuit is also associated with an unofficial Formula One top speed milestone: Valtteri Bottas reached 378 km/h during 2016 qualifying, among the fastest speeds ever recorded in a Grand Prix car. The track's combination of an extremely long, fast straight and a tight, technical old-town section has made it a magnet for late safety cars and unpredictable results, a pattern that has held since its debut on the calendar.
Fun Facts
The circuit was designed to be among the fastest street tracks in the world and shares conceptual similarities with Barcelona's historic Montjuïc circuit from the 1970s, another street course built around a hilltop park. Cars pass directly alongside some of Baku's most iconic historic landmarks, including the Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, both UNESCO-recognized sites within the Old City walls. The tight medieval streets that the cars squeeze through were never built with motorsport in mind, giving the circuit an unusually intimate, city-embedded character compared to purpose-built street tracks elsewhere on the calendar.