Organisation GP Baku comes with deadline for the Grand Prix

Closing date

The organization says they have a deadline around mid-October, but would like to organize the race before September 15th. After that, all schools will reopen after the summer holidays in Azerbaijan.

"We are in close contact with the government of Azerbaijan, the F1 and other stakeholders", said director of the Baku City Circuit Arif Rahimov to MotosportWeek.com. “At this moment in time, while we are keen to host a race in 2020, we obviously can’t commit to running the race later in the year until the situation with COVID-19 becomes clearer and the world returns back to close to how we remember it prior to the pandemic."

"We agreed with F1 that the race shouldn't be postponed until after mid-October", Rahimov continued. "We really care about our fans and appreciate their experience, so we want them to enjoy great weather in Baku during the race weekend".

Complications

Rahimov acknowledges the additional complications involved in organizing an event in the city, but believes that the infrastructure can be arranged in a shorter timeframe if desired.

"The fact that the race is held in the city streets makes it even more complicated - just like any other street circuit", says Rahimov. "As such, it would ideally be great to try to run the race before the schools restart after the summer break on September 15th.”