The Baku City Circuit is a street track with its own twists and turns. For starters, this 6.003 km street track run actually runs in an anti-clockwise direction. Nestled in the heart of a city riddled with cobbled walkways is a pulsating action-packed Grand Prix venue that's earned a notorious reputation for unfurling entertaining races. Notorious for crashes are about as much part of the track as yet another Instagram post nowadays that is about 'life advice' or 'entrepreneurship'. From the "He braketested me," from Sebastian Vettel in 2017 in response to Hamilton perhaps not doing so intentionally in any way to Ricciardo winning that very race in a highly thrilling fashion, the home to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been a delight for fans who love the unpredictable nature of the sport. Even if that means two brilliant Red Bull drivers coming to blows in an unforseeable accident in 2018; has the fan forgotten how Ricciardo and Verstappen became headlining acts very much here seven years ago, instead of commanding headlines thanks to brilliant racing maneuvres?

That said, the Baku City Circuit, a high speed track that's puncutated with slow and pacy turns, 20 of them requires drivers to be alert and ready for what's often a physically demanding and exasperating race.  

Why so?

It combines a long, fast main straight with a tight, twisty section through the historic Old City of Baku, a place actually considered 'Paris of the East'. One of the most interesting parts of the track is a very narrow 7.6-meter-wide part that runs next to medieval walls.

There are also two DRS zones to help with overtaking. The mix of fast and slow sections makes F1's rip roaring machines' setup tricky. That is fundamentally because these teams need to find a balance between low drag for speed, especially on the straights and high downforce for grip in the tighter parts of the track. 

Baku is a hard track to love, but even harder to ignore- here's why!

Perez has the best racing record here whilst the likes of Verstappen, from the current grid, have matched the famed Mexican in terms of most race wins. And even that number is 2. Just 2. 

Neither among Lewis Hamilton, undoubtedly a racing titan or the great Fernando Alonso, the samurai of F1 racing, have enjoyed great success here. Even greats like Finnish legend Kimi have secured, at best, a podium, never a victory at the Baku City Circuit. And maybe Raikkonen can offer his characteristic "Bwoah" to note that it is his compatriot (albeit from Nastola) Valtteri Bottas who has clinched two race wins from pole here. No one else from Bottas' former Mercedes team or the present stable has enjoyed that kind of record here.

Which also brings us to appreciate the fact that both Bottas and Perez, about to return to F1 next year as teammates with Cadillac, have stood at the top of the podium here in the beating heart of Azerbaijan. 

FAQs

What makes the Baku city circuit unique?

The very fact, for starters, that this is a track in midst of a city, that, truth be told, is still relatively new to the sport. Baku debuted back in 2016 as the European Grand Prix before being held every year hence as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix (with the exception of COVID Pandemic). It's a high-speed track that besides having a long straight has quite slow corners!

How many red flags did the 2025 qualifying at the Baku city circuit track, home to the Azerbaijan GP witness? 

There were no fewer than 6 Red flags this time around. It meant several, usually high flying and highly capable drivers weren't able to record anything considerably worthwhile, including Sir Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, the latter going to the barriers thus prompting a red flag marred session. Leclerc began his race from 12th with the Briton up in tenth with Alonso in the middle. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, failed to set a formidable lap time either as he too, went into the barriers. This meant, the season's leading driver (point-wise) could only gather a lowly P9. Later on, he'd retire.