Azerbaijan remains on F1 calendar until 2024, no date swap with Turkey

New contract

In 2019, the organization signed a three-year contract through 2023, but because the 2020 edition did not materialize, 2024 has been added to the deal. "It is important for us as a country to show that we are on the right track to eradicate Covid-19 and get the country out of this pandemic," Baku City Circuit executive director Arif Rahimov told Autosport.com.

"For us in Baku, it is very important to show that we can make planned events go ahead," Rahimov continued. "Of course, they are not taking place as before, but they are going ahead. And hopefully next year we can have another full event with audience and concerts. This season is still a bit difficult, but we are on the way back to normal. That's the message we want to send out into the world."

No date swap with Turkey

Although it is still not officially confirmed, it looks like the Turkish Grand Prix will not be able to go ahead this season. The Turkish Grand Prix (June 13) is scheduled a week after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. As a solution it has been suggested that both races change date so that after the Istanbul race there is a possibility of quarantine.

According to Rahimov this is not an option. "There were talks, but in our case the race weekend is really fixed," he said. Indeed, Baku is one of the playing cities of the European Football Championship and Wales and Switzerland will play each other on June 12. "The football is still going on, so we can't do much, we're not very flexible this year. I think if it was another year, when we are the only major event on the Baku calendar, that [a swap] would have been an option, but not this year."