Azerbaijan GP preview: Baku's 2026 pole could be slower than its lap record
We forecast the 2026 Baku pole at 1:43.9 to 1:44.5, slower than the race lap record Leclerc set in 2019. Session times for the first Saturday race in Baku, the last three winners and what to watch.
The fastest lap anyone sets at Baku this year may not beat a race lap from 2019.
Charles Leclerc's 1:43.009, set during the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, is still the official lap record. It was a race lap, on fuel. Qualifying laps are normally well clear of it: pole in 2024 was a 1:41.365.
The 2026 cars are slower. Measured across every circuit raced in both seasons, this year's pole laps are between 2.5% and 3.4% off last year's and 2024's. Apply that to Baku and pole lands between 1:43.9 and 1:44.5, somewhere between nine tenths and a second and a half slower than the lap record.
We made the same kind of forecast before Madrid and missed Norris's pole time by 0.014 seconds, so here is how this one works, when the weekend happens, and what to watch.
Before the cars run, the quickest way to hear what Baku does to drivers is last year's radio: every message from the 2025 weekend is in our Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2025 radio archive, with the audio and a colour-coded transcript.
Azerbaijan GP 2026 session times
For the first time, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is on a Saturday. The weekend moved forward a day to avoid Azerbaijan's Remembrance Day on Sunday 27 September, the national day of mourning for those killed in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as Motorsport.com reported.
Session
Day
Baku time
UTC
Practice 1
Thursday 24 September
12:30
08:30
Practice 2
Thursday 24 September
16:00
12:00
Practice 3
Friday 25 September
12:30
08:30
Qualifying
Friday 25 September
16:00
12:00
Race
Saturday 26 September
15:00
11:00
Caption: Times from Formula 1's 2026 event schedule. Baku is four hours ahead of UTC.
The race is 51 laps of the 6.003 km Baku City Circuit, 306.049 km in total.
The pole forecast: 1:43.9 to 1:44.5
There is no 2026 lap of Baku yet, so the forecast comes from how much slower this year's cars are at circuits they have already raced.
We compared pole laps at every 2026 circuit that also hosted a race in 2025, keeping only sessions with no rain and no intermediate or wet tyres. Across 11 circuits, 2026 pole was a median 3.35% slower. The smallest gap was China, 1.57%, and the largest Australia, 4.56%. Canada and the Netherlands were left out because rain fell during their 2026 qualifying sessions.
Baku's 2025 pole is a poor baseline on its own. Verstappen's 1:41.117 came in mixed conditions, in a session stopped by a record six red flags. So we ran the same comparison against 2024, where seven dry pairs gave a median of 2.53%, and applied it to Leclerc's dry 2024 pole.
Baseline
Pole lap
2026 cars slower by
2026 forecast
2024, dry
1:41.365, Leclerc
2.53%
**1:43.930**
2025, mixed conditions
1:41.117, Verstappen
3.35%
**1:44.504**
Caption: Pole laps from official timing. Rates are medians of dry qualifying sessions at circuits raced in both seasons.
Both ends of the range sit above Leclerc's 1:43.009 race lap record. The lap record itself is safe on Saturday: race laps run on fuel and managed tyres, so they will be slower still.
A range, not a promise. Street circuits have not moved uniformly: Monaco pole was 3.00% slower than in 2025, Miami only 1.85%. We will update this forecast on Thursday using first practice, the method that got Madrid's pole within 0.014 seconds.
Baku, measured
The circuit is broken down in depth in our Baku City Circuit guide. From the 2025 pole lap's own telemetry:
Longest run without lifting: about 1.85 km, from the final corner, up the main straight, to Turn 1
Top speed on the lap: 339 km/h
Slowest point: 72 km/h, in the castle section
Braking zones: 10
Average lap speed: 211.3 km/h
That combination is why Baku ranks only sixth in our fastest street circuits ranking despite the longest flat-out stretch of any of them. The straight gives time away as quickly as the old town takes it back.
The narrowest part of the track, the uphill stretch around the old city walls, is 7.6 metres wide.
The last three Azerbaijan Grands Prix
Year
Pole
Winner (grid)
Podium
Safety cars
2025
Verstappen
Verstappen (1st)
Russell, Sainz
1
2024
Leclerc
Piastri (2nd)
Leclerc, Russell
1, plus a virtual safety car
2023
Leclerc
Perez (3rd)
Verstappen, Leclerc
1
Caption: Results and race control messages from official timing.
A safety car has appeared in each of the last three races. George Russell has been on the podium in two of them, both times from fifth on the grid. Carlos Sainz's third place for Williams last year came from second on the grid, one of the surprises of that chaotic qualifying session.
The championship going in
Pos
Driver
Points
1
KimiAntonelli
292
2
GeorgeRussell
211
3
LewisHamilton
191
4
LandoNorris
186
5
CharlesLeclerc
167
6
MaxVerstappen
145
Caption: Standings after the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, round 14.
Antonelli arrives 81 points clear after winning in Madrid, a race Norris believed McLaren should have won. The story of that race, and what the teams said on the radio, is in our Spanish GP race report and Spanish GP team radio.
What to watch
Friday qualifying, not Saturday. With the whole weekend a day early, pole is decided on Friday afternoon. At a circuit where the walls punish the aggression a pole lap needs, the session to watch is Q3.
The first safety car. Every Baku race since 2023 has had one. Watch who has already made their stop when it comes out.
The slipstream battle in qualifying. A 1.85 km flat-out run makes a tow worth chasing, which is why qualifying here so often turns into drivers waiting for each other.
Whether the forecast holds. If pole comes in under 1:43.009, the 2026 cars will have gained more at Baku than almost anywhere else this season.
Listen before the weekend
Last year's race radio, in order, with the audio:
Our archive holds Baku radio from 2018, 2019, 2021 and every year since 2023. The Baku circuit hub collects it alongside every qualifying gap drawn as real distance.
Frequently asked questions
When is the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
Saturday 26 September 2026, at 15:00 in Baku (11:00 UTC). Practice starts on Thursday 24 September and qualifying is on Friday 25 September.
Why is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on a Saturday in 2026?
To avoid Azerbaijan's Remembrance Day on Sunday 27 September, a national day of mourning for those killed in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
What is the lap record at Baku?
1:43.009, set by Charles Leclerc for Ferrari during the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It is still the official race lap record.
Who won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2025?
Max Verstappen, from pole, ahead of George Russell and Carlos Sainz.
What will pole be at Baku in 2026?
Our forecast is between 1:43.9 and 1:44.5, based on how much slower the 2026 cars have been in qualifying at the circuits raced in both 2025 and 2026. We will update it after first practice.
Pole laps, results, safety cars and pole lap telemetry: official F1 timing via FastF1
Follow Baku live
Baku is a race that turns on a single safety car, and knowing who is exposed when it comes out is the whole game. The Formula Dream app plays live driver radio as it is broadcast, with the transcript beside the audio, a live timing Dashboard (currently in beta) with flag and safety car alerts, and every FIA document of the weekend the moment it is published.
Free, no subscription, independent. Not affiliated with Formula 1.
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