Baku City Circuit
Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Speeds, gears and braking points below come from George Russell‘s 1:42.526 pole lap in 2026 qualifying. He spent 20.5 seconds on the brakes and peaked at 331 km/h on the main straight. His longest flat-out stretch, from Turn 16 to the Turn 1 braking point, covered 1,982m in 23.7 seconds. The slowest point was 71 km/h in first gear at Turn 7.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has produced seven different winners in nine editions, and Red Bull drivers have won five of them, while the 2016 debut ran under another name.

Building the Baku City Circuit and its facilities cost under $80m, according to promoter CEO Arif Rahimov, and putting the track up and taking it down costs about $15m a year. The hosting fee is the bigger bill. BlackBook Motorsport reported $55m a year on the deal that ran to 2026, and the new deal to 2030 is an undisclosed increase. The Azerbaijani state pays through the government-backed promoter.

Under $80m for the circuit and its facilities, according to Arif Rahimov, CEO of the promoter, speaking in 2017. He also said it costs around $15m a year to reinstall and dismantle everything, and Raconteur reported that Baku spent $12m resurfacing roads for the race. Earlier media estimates were higher. RFE/RL reported in 2016 that up to $90m had gone on infrastructure and put the total cost at about $240m. Four new grandstands have since added more than 6,000 seats, and the streets around Turns 2-4 were resurfaced for 2026, with no costs published for either.

Neither F1 nor the promoter publishes it. BlackBook Motorsport reported in September 2025 that Baku paid $55m a year under the deal that ran to 2026, and that the new four-year extension to 2030 is an increase on that. RacingNews365 in 2023 and Speedcafe in 2024 estimated $57m. Under the original contract, an annual escalator had pushed the bill to an estimated $60m-plus by 2018, according to Reuters, before Baku renegotiated. The Azerbaijani state pays through the government-backed promoter Baku City Circuit, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports oversees the event.

Baku has no verified general admission ticket, so the cheapest way in for 2026 was a $380 three-day seat in the Zafar grandstand on the main straight near the finish. Khazar and Giz Galasi on the fast final section cost $460, and Icheri Sheher in the Old City castle section was $690. Absheron C opposite the pits topped the grandstands at $1,220, and Champions Club hospitality started at $4,116. That makes Baku the 17th cheapest of the 23 races in our ticket price table.