By Mark Gero
Monaco, Jeddah, Singapore, Las Vegas and soon to be Madrid, all have one thing in common: They are all street circuits.
And this coming weekend, another street track will be run that is added to that list—and that is the Baku Street Circuit in the oil rich country of Azerbaijan.
This circuit is one of the longest tracks on the calendar, and for a street circuit to be 3.7 miles long (approximately just over six kilometers) it will make this a very demanding and tough place to race a car.
This track first held the European Grand Prix in 2016 before F1 officials decided that the race would be on the calendar permanently, and for the last seven seasons, the race has been held to the excitement of the fans that watch it. Normally the race is held in the springtime, but it was switched with the Japanese Grand Prix and now the race in Japan is in April, with this one later in the year.
The only difference in this circuit is the famous long straight on the start/finish line, which has been extended to 100 meters for the only DRS zone on the circuit. For this, the last time that this system will be used this way, it will make this part of the circuit a very good chance to pass each other, despite the rest of the track being very narrow.
This will also be the first race following the last few months in Europe, and now with the championship switching to the flyaway races, it will be interesting how the results of races will be like. McLaren has the chance to clinch the constructor’s championship if both entries can have a good finish, which has been on a regular basis this season.
The real battle is in the driver’s title, where both McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are the only two in contention, with a very small challenge coming from the defending champion Max Verstappen. Already, the Dutchman has admitted that this year’s title won’t be repeated, which will end four years of domination.
For this race, consistency and keeping yourself out of trouble are the key to placing well, if not winning the race. But the narrowness of the circuit can be a problem, as Charles Leclerc found out in 2019 and last season, when both Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez collided with each other. Verstappen a few years ago had a chance to win the race, until he suffered a puncture on the main straight just before the end.
There will not be any racing that could be tedious here, because the long lap and concentration of this circuit will be exciting for fans to watch for this weekend.
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