The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be held on Saturday, September 26, with Formula 1’s usual schedule moving forward one day to recognize a national observance on Sunday.
Round 15 of the championship starts at 15:00 local time in Baku. Practice opens on Thursday, September 24, before qualifying takes place on Friday, September 25.
Why Baku will race on Saturday
Azerbaijan observes Remembrance Day on September 27, the Sunday that would ordinarily have hosted the Grand Prix. The national day of mourning commemorates military personnel killed during the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh war.
The adjustment came after a request from the race promoter and government stakeholders. Instead of holding the race during Sunday’s commemorations, Formula 1 moved its entire program forward.
The event will therefore run from September 24 to 26, replacing Formula 1’s standard Friday to Sunday format.
Thursday practice opens an unusual schedule
Teams will first head onto the Baku City Circuit on Thursday, September 24. First practice starts at 12:30 local time, with second practice following at 16:00.
Final practice is set for 12:30 on Friday, September 25. Qualifying starts at 16:00 local time that afternoon and will determine the grid for Saturday.
The Grand Prix begins at 15:00 local time on September 26.
Saturday races draw attention because Sunday is Formula 1’s traditional race day, but there is precedent. Las Vegas also holds its race on Saturday, and the 2026 Azerbaijan event offers another case of the championship adjusting its timetable around local circumstances.
A first for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The schedule change creates the first Saturday race in Azerbaijan Grand Prix history. Every previous Baku edition used the conventional timetable, with Friday practice followed by Saturday qualifying and a Sunday race.
Teams and drivers will begin their competitive preparations one day earlier this time. Azerbaijan sits on the calendar between the Spanish Grand Prix, held on September 13, and the next championship round, scheduled for October 2 to 4.
Azerbaijan remains round 15 despite the revised schedule.
Antonelli arrives with a commanding lead
Kimi Antonelli travels to Baku leading the drivers’ standings after his Spanish Grand Prix victory on September 13. The Italian Mercedes driver has scored 292 points through 14 rounds, while teammate George Russell is second with 211.
Antonelli leads by 81 points.
Lewis Hamilton holds third place for Ferrari on 191 points. Lando Norris sits fourth with 186, and Charles Leclerc rounds out the top five on 167. Max Verstappen is next with 145, followed by Oscar Piastri on 120.
Antonelli has won eight of the first 14 Grands Prix, triumphing in China, Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco, Belgium, Italy and Spain. His most recent victory came ahead of Verstappen and Norris, who collected 18 and 15 points respectively.
Russell’s two wins came in Australia and Austria. Norris took victories in Hungary and the Netherlands, while Hamilton and Leclerc won the Barcelona-Catalunya and British Grands Prix respectively.
Mercedes takes its lead to Baku
Mercedes also reaches the Azerbaijan weekend atop the constructors’ championship. The team has 503 points, ahead of Ferrari on 358 and McLaren on 306.
Antonelli and Russell have delivered 10 victories across the opening 14 rounds, leaving only four pre-Baku races won by other drivers. Mercedes consequently holds a 145-point advantage over Ferrari entering round 15.
The weekend begins with Thursday’s opening session at 12:30 local time, starting the track action before Baku’s program concludes one day earlier than usual.
