F1 racing, Azerbaijan GP: Speed ​​arena in the middle of the old city

(F1 Racing News) One of the longest races on the F1 calendar, Baku City Circuit is where the next speed race takes place, right in the heart of the old city of Baku.

İçərişəhər (old town of Icheri Sheher) is the historic center of Baku. Surrounded by the city walls, and the Maiden tower, this place has existed for centuries.

There are opinions that this place was built in the 12th century, others are looking for evidence that this work exists from the 7th century. But this is still an unanswered question.

In December 2000, the ancient city of Baku, together with the palace of Shirvanshahs and the Maiden tower, were the first sites in Azerbaijan to be recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Only 3 years later, this site was included in the list of World Heritage in Danger. Efforts to preserve the Baku city wall have been recognized by UNESCO and were removed from the list of threatened heritage in 2009.

Baku in a F1 weekend

The first F1 race in Azerbaijan, scheduled for 2016, was pushed ahead to 2015, before being rescheduled again to 2016. Hermann Tilke designed the Baku City Circuit from the streets available in the ancient city of Baku. And the Baku City Circuit made its debut in the 2016 European GP event.

The following year, the race was named Azerbaijan GP. Although 2020 cannot be held due to the Covid epidemic, this is still an indispensable race on the F1 calendar since 2017.

Map of Baku City Circuit

Baku City Circuit has a length of 1 lap of 6,003 km with all 20 turns. The riders will have to complete 51 laps with a total distance of 306,049 km. The lap record is 1 minute 43,009 seconds set by Charles Leclerc in 2019. There are 2 DRS areas set up by the FIA, which are placed on the start / finish line and between the 2nd and 3rd bends, respectively.

Pirelli . tire selection

Soft tires C3, C4 and C5 continue to be nominated for the race, but this year the tire model is completely different. Baku City Circuit includes high-speed straight lines, and narrow corners in the center of the old town. The car needs grip through those corners as well as high speed on the straight for the overtaking phases. Valtteri Bottas hit the 378 km/h mark in Baku in 2016, an unofficial but unbeatable record.

No driver has ever won twice at Baku, but they are both from the Mercerdes and Red Bull racing teams. Will there be another name that will appear at the top of the podium? Watch Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022 with the first running session at 6pm on 10/06.