Two Straight Mode zones approved
2.2 kilometres. That is how long the main straight in Baku runs, and it is where most of this weekend’s overtaking is going to happen. The FIA has confirmed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will use two Straight Mode zones when Formula 1 returns to the city streets.
The first zone swallows the biggest chunk of the lap, opening at Turn 19 and staying live all the way down that 2.2-kilometre run to Turn 1. The second barely qualifies as a zone at all. It links Turns 2 and 3, and drivers will blink and miss it.
Everything else gets run in standard trim. Sector 2 and the opening of Sector 3 will be tackled without assistance.
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Active aero lands on a street circuit for the first time
Baku has never seen this. Active aero took over part of the DRS system’s job under the 2026 rules, and drivers now open and close the rear wing at fixed points around the lap.
The principle is not complicated. Straight Mode strips drag on the straights. The cars then flick back to their normal setup, front and rear wings closed, to get the downforce back through the corners.
Zone counts have been all over the place this season. Five in Australia and Belgium. Four in China and Italy. Two in Japan and the Netherlands. Monaco got dropped to zero back in June, the FIA deciding the barriers sat too close together for any of it to be safe.
Race day moves to Saturday
The weekend format shifts as well. The race runs on Saturday instead of Sunday so it does not fall on Azerbaijan Remembrance Day, September 27. Promoters and local authorities pushed for the change, and F1 signed off on it.
Free Practice 1 and 2 go ahead on Thursday. FP3 and qualifying follow on Friday, with the race on Saturday.
Only two drivers have won here more than once. Sergio Perez took it in 2021 and 2023 with Red Bull, and he is back this year driving for Cadillac. Max Verstappen arrives in the RB22 with a chance to become the first three-time winner in Azerbaijan.
Red Bull remain the team to beat around this place. Five wins from eight editions says plenty.
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