The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is about to make history this weekend by becoming the first F1 race ever held on a Saturday in Baku. It's a rare scheduling move that underscores F1's willingness to adapt when circumstances demand it. The decision came after the Azerbaijan GP promoters and government requested the race be moved forward one day to respect September 27, which marks the country's national day of mourning honouring those lost in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

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This marks only the second time since 1985 that Formula 1 has run a Grand Prix on a Saturday, with the 2023 Las Vegas GP being the other exception in recent history. Back then, Max Verstappen claimed the inaugural Saturday night race for Red Bull. Before that, you'd have to rewind nearly four decades to find another Saturday Grand Prix. So yeah, it's genuinely unusual stuff, even though F1 has shown it's happy to shuffle the calendar around for Ramadan or other scheduling conflicts in recent years.

The Baku circuit's got plenty of history even without Saturday's novelty factor. Nico Rosberg won the very first F1 race held there back in 2016 when it was branded the European Grand Prix, while Daniel Ricciardo took the inaugural Azerbaijan GP proper in 2017 for Red Bull. This time around, the race weekend runs Thursday through Saturday with qualifying happening Friday before the 51-lap race kicks off at 15:00 local time on the day itself.

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Coming into Baku, the standings are being dominated by Mercedes and Ferrari. Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads the championship by a massive 81 points after nabbing his eighth win last time out at the Spanish Grand Prix, though a controversial virtual safety car call robbed Lando Norris of what looked like a certain victory. George Russell sits second on 292 points while Lewis Hamilton runs third on 191. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are still chasing their first win of 2026 after 15 rounds, making Baku a critical moment as we head into a punishing triple-header.

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Isack Hadjar will return from injury at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Red Bull, adding another layer of intrigue to the weekend's action. With all 22 drivers set to compete, the stage is set for what should be a thrilling Saturday showdown on the streets of Baku.

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