Baku City Circuit joined the Formula 1 calendar in 2016 and is notorious for producing action-packed races. Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about the Baku City Circuit ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix!
Track length: 6.003km
Race length: 306.049km
Laps: 51
Turns: 20
Circuit opened: 2016
F1 first visited: 2016
Races held: 6
Track Record: 1:40.495, Valtteri Bottas, 2019
Lap Record: 1:43.009, Charles Leclerc, 2019
RACE WINNERS
Since its inaugural race in 2016, there have been six Formula 1 races held at Baku City Circuit. The track has hosted the Azerbaijan Grand Prix five times. On its first appearance here in 2016, the race was given the title of the European Grand Prix.
There’s yet to be a repeat Azerbaijan Grand Prix winner
From the six races held at Baku City Circuit, there’s yet to be a repeat winner. Nico Rosberg won the first event here, Daniel Ricciardo took an unexpected victory in 2017, Lewis Hamilton won in 2018, Valtteri Bottas was victorious in 2019, Sergio Perez won took the win in 2021 and Max Verstappen won last time out in 2022.
In terms of nations, Germany, Australia, Britain, Finland, Mexico and the Netherlands each have a solitary victory in Azerbaijan.
Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo (the first two winners at the track) are the only former winners of a race at Baku City Circuit not presently on the Formula 1 grid.
Nico Rosberg is the only driver to record a Grand Slam in Azerbaijan, having done so at the 2016 European Grand Prix.
Two teams are tied for most wins at the track
While no driver has had more than one win, two teams have won on multiple occasions. Mercedes and Red Bull are the only teams to have won at Baku City Circuit and both teams have won three times.
Mercedes engines have powered the most wins, with three victories for the German brand. Each of Red Bull’s wins here have come with a differently-badged engine: Tag Heuer in 2017, Honda in 2021 and Red Bull Powertrains in 2022.
Two 1-2 finishes have been recorded at Baku City Circuit
Mercedes became the first team to record a 1-2 finish at the Baku City Circuit in the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – a year in which they also became the first team to record victories at the circuit in successive years. Red Bull became the second team to record a 1-2 finish at the venue in 2022, also winning for a second consecutive year.
Max Verstappen holds the largest win margin in Baku
Max Verstappen set a new record for the largest win margin at Baku City Circuit in 2022, finishing 20.823 seconds ahead of his team-mate.
The smallest Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory margin was in the 2021 event, which Sergio Perez won by just 1.385 seconds.
Four of the six Grands Prix at Baku City Circuit have been won by less than five seconds.
From the six races here, the average win margin is 7.799 seconds.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX
ON THE PODIUM
11 different drivers have finished on the podium at the Baku City Circuit. Seven of the previous 11 podium finishers are on the 2023 grid.
Sergio Perez has recorded the most Azerbaijan Grand Prix podiums
Sergio Perez set a new record for most podiums at Baku City Circuit in 2022, recording his fourth top three finish.
Sebastian Vettel is second on the list, with three podiums, while Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are the other drivers with multiple podiums at the circuit.
Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen and George Russell are the other drivers to have finished on the podium at the track.
Germany and Mexico share the record as the nation with the most podium finishes at Baku City Circuit, with four apiece.
Mercedes have recorded the most podiums in Baku
Mercedes drivers have had the most podium finishes here, with six. In 2019, Mercedes became the first team to finish a race at the track with both of their cars in podium positions.
The polestitter has recorded only two podium finishes
The polesitter has only gone on to finish on the podium here only twice (Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who each won in 2016 and 2019 respectively)
The lowest starting podium finisher here is Sebastian Vettel – who finished second having started 11th on the grid in 2021.
The 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the first in which all three podium finishers came from the top three grid slots. It was also the first time the top three have finished in the order in which they started at the Baku City Circuit.
The 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the first race at the circuit in which none of the top three starters finished on the podium.
POLESITTERS
There have been five different polesitters at the Baku City Circuit – but only one driver has taken multiple poles at the circuit.
Leclerc became the first repeat polesitter at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2022
Charles Leclerc has taken pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in each of the last two seasons. He is the only driver to take multiple poles at the event.
Nico Rosberg took pole in 2016, Lewis Hamilton in 2017, Sebastian Vettel was Saturday’s fastest driver in 2018, Valtteri Bottas was on pole in 2019 and Charles Leclerc became the fifth different polesitter in as many races at the venue in 2021.
German and Monegasque drivers lead the way for the most poles here, with two each.
Two teams are tied for most poles in Baku
Mercedes and Ferrari are the only teams to have taken pole position in Azerbaijan. Both teams have taken pole here three times.
There have been only two occasions on which a team has locked-out the front row at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Mercedes did so in 2017 and 2019.
The difference between the fastest pole lap and the slowest pole lap at this track is 2.263 seconds. The slowest pole lap at the track was in 2016, the fastest being in 2019.
The smallest gap the grid was separated by here is 3.874 seconds in 2016, while the largest is 15.856 seconds in 2019. That number is so large because Brendon Hartley didn’t set a competitive time.
Nico Rosberg holds the largest pole margin at Baku City Circuit
The largest pole margin at this track is 0.757 seconds, when Nico Rosberg dominated the qualifying session in 2016. Meanwhile, the smallest pole margin in Baku is 0.179 seconds, which is the gap that Sebastian Vettel took pole by in 2018.
Pole position has never been decided by less than a tenth of a second at this track.
From the six races here, the average pole margin at the Baku City Circuit is 0.369 seconds.
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
The Grand Prix here has only been won from pole twice, in its inaugural year in 2016 and in 2019.
The 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the first race at Baku City Circuit in which the polesitter did not lead at the end of the first lap.
Races at Baku City Circuit have been won from the front row of the grid three times.
Three wins have been taken by drivers starting away from the front row of the grid: by Daniel Ricciardo from 10th in 2017, by Sergio Perez from 6th in 2021 and by Max Verstappen from 3rd in 2022.
SUNDAY STATISTICS
There have been 306 racing laps held so far at the Baku City Circuit.
Every Azerbaijan Grand Prix except one has seen at least ten drivers finish on the lead lap. The exception is 2019, when only nine drivers finished on the lead lap.
There has never been a rain-affected race in Azerbaijan.
The longest and shortest races here are separated by a difference of just over 42 minutes. The shortest race was the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which Lewis Hamilton won in a time of 1:31:52.942, while the longest race was the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which Sergio Perez won after 2:13:36.410 of racing.
Max Verstappen has led the most laps at Baku City Circuit
Max Verstappen has led the most laps in Azerbaijan, having spent 65 laps in the lead at Baku City Circuit. He overtook Nico Rosberg’s record at the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – a record which Rosberg held for six years, despite racing here only once.
Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc are the only drivers to have led laps at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix without ever winning the event. Vettel led 37 laps here without winning, while Leclerc has led 21 so far.
Of the six races held here so far, there have been three in which the winner was the driver who led the most laps of the race.
The fewest number of laps led en route to victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is three, which is how many laps Lewis Hamilton led in 2018.
The 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the race at the circuit which has featured the highest number of drivers leading at least one lap. That year, five different drivers led a lap of the race.
Safety Car outings are common at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The Safety Car has appeared in three of the six races at this track. The most number of Safety Car periods in a single race here is four, which happened in 2017. The 2018 and 2021 races each had two Safety Car periods.
The 2016, 2019 and 2022 races are the only ones to not feature full Safety Car periods – but the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix featured a Virtual Safety Car period and there were two VSC periods in the 2022 race.
No driver has taken more than one fastest lap at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Six different drivers have taken the fastest lap of the race in the six races at Baku City Circuit: Nico Rosberg in 2016, Sebastian Vettel in 2017, Valtteri Bottas in 2018, Charles Leclerc in 2019, Max Verstappen in 2021 and Sergio Perez in 2022.
The overall finish rate at Baku City Circuit is just under 75%
The highest number of drivers to reach the end of a race here is 18, which happened in 2016, while the least is 13, which happened in both 2017 and 2018.
Of the 122 cars which have started a race here, 91 have seen the chequered flag. That gives an overall finish rate of 74.5%.
On average, 15 drivers reach the chequered flag at this track.
Two Baku races have been red-flagged
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been red-flagged twice. The 2017 event was halted due to debris on the track, while a crash for Max Verstappen brought out the red flags in 2021.
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
There has never been a champion crowned at this track. The winner of this race has gone on to win the title in the same season three times in the five races held so far at the circuit.
2016 and 2017 are the only seasons where the polesitter at Baku City Circuit has gone on to claim the title in the same year.
Ferrari and Red Bull are the only teams who’ve failed to win the title having led the Constructors’ Championship after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Ferrari held a four point lead over Mercedes after the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Red Bull held a 29 point lead over Mercedes after the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
