What time does the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix start?

The opening races of the season had many similarities: all won by a Red Bull Racing car (Verstappen twice, once Sergio Perez) and Fernando Alonso was on the podium with his Aston Martin at all Grands Prix. The race at the Baku City Circuit, partly through the capital's historic centre, is the first of the European part of the F1 calendar, although the country is partly in Asia.

Verstappen again favourite

In advance, Max Verstappen is the big favourite. The Dutchman won the Baku Grand Prix last year. A year earlier, he crashed hard into the wall in the closing stages after one of his tyres burst. Sergio Perez took advantage of that at the time.

The weekend has a different structure than usual. For the first time, there is a sprint race, plus a special qualifying session for it. This makes Saturday a 'stand-alone' day in the race weekend. Already on Friday, drivers qualify for Sunday's main race. That means there is only one free practice session.

Where can you watch F1 in Baku?

All sessions can be followed in the Netherlands again this weekend on Viaplay, where qualifying and the race will also feature a pre- and post-race review. At F1TV, with a subscription you can also watch the footage, here you can then choose commentary from different countries.

GPblog will also provide you with the very latest news this weekend and a liveblog of each session can be found on the website. These liveblogs will appear on the site one hour before the session starts. Besides the live report, you will also find summaries, reactions and analysis here first. GPblog is present at the circuit this weekend and will therefore also report from the paddock.

Timetable for the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Friday

First free practice: 11:30 am-12:30 am

Grand Prix qualifying: 3:00 pm-4:10 pm

Saturday

Qualifying sprint race: 11:30 am-12:15 am

Sprint race: 3:30 pm-4:30 pm

Sunday

Grand Prix: 1:00 pm-3:00 pm