Baku Grand Prix ‘must happen by mid-October’
Organisers of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku City say that the event must take place before mid-October if it’s to happen at all in 2020.
The race had originally been scheduled for June 7, but is among ten races that have since been cancelled or indefinitely postponed as a result of the global spread of coronavirus.
Formula 1 bosses hope to hold the first race of the season with a double header in Austria at the start of July, followed by the British GP is lockdown restrictions permit.
But beyond that the season is still up in the air, with races planned for earlier in the season remaining hopeful of being rescheduled and slotted in over the summer.
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“We are in close contact with the Government of Azerbaijan, F1 and other stakeholders,” said Arif Rahimov, the executive director of Baku City Circuit.
“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,” he told told MotorsportWeek.com.
However, the local climate put limits on how late in the year it would be possible to stage the race in Baku.
“We truly care about our fans and value their experience so we would want them to be able to enjoy amazing weather in Baku during the race weekend,” Rahimov explained. “[So] we have agreed with F1 that the race should not be postponed until after mid-October.”
He added that mid-September would be a better solution before the city’s schools went back after the summer holidays. Whatever the decision, he confirmed that it would be possible to get preparations for the race completed in plenty of time.
“Usually we programme our construction activities to start 13-14 weeks prior to the race weekend,” he stated. “In the current situation, however, we could try to reduce this to 11 to 12 weeks, which would involve a more intensive construction schedule.
“If we were in a position to hold the race in a period between early/mid-September to mid-October, then I would be very positive that we can achieve this target, given the fact that most of the construction work would be completed in the summer.”
However Rahimov ruled out holding multiple back-to-back events on the street circuit because of the disruption that this would cause.
“In the event that we can stage a race this year, we certainly do not expect to make any changes to the race format. And this has never been discussed with F1.”
“I also don’t believe it would be possible to run races in Baku over several weekends,” he said.
“It would involve causing too much inconvenience to our residents due to the fact that the circuit is located right in the heart of the city.”
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