On September 24, 2026, Formula 1 cars began running through the streets of Baku on a Thursday—an early clue that this Azerbaijan Grand Prix would not follow the usual timetable. The 51-lap race will start at 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, September 26, rather than occupying Formula 1’s traditional Sunday slot.
The reason is not television scheduling or a night-race experiment. Sunday, September 27, is Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day, a national day of mourning for those killed in the 2020 conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Local organizers and government stakeholders asked for the event to be brought forward so the Grand Prix would not clash with the commemoration, as Motorsport.com explains.
The whole weekend moved, not just the race
Moving Sunday to Saturday pulled every Formula 1 session forward by 24 hours. The official Formula 1 timetable lists first and second practice on Thursday, third practice and qualifying on Friday, and the Grand Prix on Saturday. Media activities consequently began on Wednesday.
That compressed rhythm matters for viewers accustomed to treating Friday as the opening day and Sunday as race day. It also changes the familiar working week for teams, broadcasters and support categories. Formula 2 has an especially busy Baku program, with two qualifying sessions and three races fitted around Formula 1’s altered schedule.
The race distance itself remains familiar: 51 laps of the 6.003-kilometre Baku City Circuit, for 306.049 kilometres. The official event page confirms the Saturday date and lists Baku’s lap record as Charles Leclerc’s 1:43.009 from 2019.
A rare exception with a clear local reason
Saturday Formula 1 races are unusual but not unprecedented. Las Vegas uses a Saturday-night slot for commercial and time-zone reasons, while the 2024 Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were also staged on Saturdays to accommodate Ramadan. Baku’s change is different: the entire weekend moved specifically to leave the national remembrance day clear.
The Independent’s race-week explanation confirms that the schedule was shifted to avoid Sunday’s day of mourning. Yahoo Sports likewise notes that Remembrance Day was established by presidential decree in December 2020.
On track, Thursday’s opening practice still looked recognizably Formula 1. George Russell led with a 1:45.387, ahead of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, according to the official FP1 classification. The unusual part is the calendar: by the time most Grand Prix weekends reach qualifying, Baku will already be preparing to crown its race winner the next day.
Sources and further reading
- Formula 1 official weekend timetable
- Formula 1 Azerbaijan event page
- Motorsport.com schedule explanation
- The Independent race-week explainer
- Yahoo Sports report
