Azerbaijan GP schedule: Why is the race on a Saturday?

Find out the race-week schedule, weather and how to watch the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend in Baku; watch every session from September 24-26 with a Saturday race, live on Sky Sports F1

Formula 1 will race in Azerbaijan on a Saturday as the sport returns to the Baku City Circuit for what often proves one of the season's most incident-filled events.

The first round of a flyaway triple header before trips to Malaysia and Singapore, the Baku race weekend starts a day earlier than normal meaning Practice is on Thursday, Qualifying is on Friday and the Grand Prix is on the Saturday.

Kimi Antonelli leads the world championship by 81 points after consecutive wins in Monza and Madrid and time is running out for his would-be title challengers to put a run together to rival him with a scheduled eight rounds left after Baku.

But, as then-title leader Oscar Piastri found to his cost at last year's race, the wall-lined Baku circuit can certainly bite if you make a mistake with challenges present all round the fast and tricky layout for both qualifying and race day.

The Baku race takes place a day earlier than normal on a Saturday (September 26) as it is country's Remembrance Day on Sunday September 27.

That means 2026's Grand Prix takes is being held on Saturday, with Qualifying on the Friday and the opening two practice sessions on Thursday.

Azerbaijan is three hours ahead of the UK so the sessions are slightly earlier than they were during the European season, with Qualifying at 1pm and the Grand Prix at midday.

In the country on the Caspian Sea where Europe meets Asia, the Baku City Circuit joined the F1 calendar in 2016. The race ran under the European Grand Prix title in that first year, before taking the country's name from the following season, and is one of the breed of the sport's faster street tracks.

That speed is no more evident than when drivers top 200mph down the 1.4-mile long main straight - the longest of the whole season - with slipstreaming and overtaking opportunities aplenty as cars go up to three abreast. The big Turn One braking zone was the scene of a crash between Red Bull team-mates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in 2018.

After two shorter straights connected by classic street circuit-style 90-degree turns, the 3.7-mile track heads into the twister ancient part of the city, including the narrowest piece of track of the whole season. At 7.6 metres between the barriers, the tricky Turn Eight-Nine 'castle' chicane takes F1 cars past what is the city's UNESCO-protected medieval area.

Weather conditions are set to be warm and dry throughout race week, with temperature highs in the mid-20s.

Wednesday September 23 11am: Drivers' Press Conference 2pm: Paddock Uncut

Thursday September 24 6.55am: F2 Practice 9am: Azerbaijan GP Practice One (session starts at 9.30am)* 10.55am: F2 Qualifying* 12pm: Team Bosses' Press Conference 12.30pm: Azerbaijan GP Practice Two (session starts at 1pm) 2.15pm: The F1 Show