It is back to Baku for Round 12 of the FIA Formula 2 season, and this weekend brings a completely wild schedule with an extra Qualifying and Feature Race to contend with. The three-day event has been moved one day forward, kicking off on Thursday morning instead of the usual routine.
Action opens with a single 45-minute Free Practice session at 10:00 local time, immediately followed by two consecutive 20-minute Qualifying sessions in the afternoon, with Q1 starting at 14:00 and Q2 at 14:30. Friday morning brings the Sprint Race at 08:15 local time, using the results of the first Qualifying session to set the grid. Later that same day, the first Feature Race lights out at 14:15 local time, again utilizing the order from the first Qualifying session. Saturday morning marks the final day of action, featuring the second Feature Race at 11:00 local time with a grid determined by the second Qualifying session.
The historical weight of this venue is fascinating. Baku has featured on the F2 calendar every single season apart from the 2020 campaign. Interestingly, the last time a driver won in Baku and went on to claim the Drivers’ title in F2 was none other than George Russell in 2018. Among the current grid, Joshua Duerksen and Dino Beganovic stand out as the only drivers who have previously won in Baku. Meanwhile, Dino Beganovic joined Rafael Camara and Kush Maini as a repeat pole sitter by taking P1 on Friday in Madrid.
Speaking about the challenge, Dino Beganovic of DAMS Lucas Oil explained the unique nature of the venue: “It’s a very cool track because it’s a street track. You don’t get to come here before F2, so it’s a new track for the rookies and very different. You run with low downforce, which makes things very tricky in certain sections, but the very long straights bring a lot of opportunities to overtake. Turn 1 is probably the best place to overtake with DRS and very hard braking into Turn 1. The hardest part of the track is the castle section, its’ the tightest of the year and brings a lot of challenge.”
From a technical standpoint, the FIA Formula 2 Technical Director notes that while Baku is a street circuit, it offers a fairly unique challenge due to the immense speeds achieved around the lap. Drivers will reach around 330Km/h on the run from Turn 16 to Turn 1, the longest straight on the calendar. The track surface remains relatively smooth, meaning tyre degradation is not as excessive as at other venues, though traction is the most impactful element. Getting the setup right ahead of Thursday's back-to-back Qualifying sessions will be pivotal given the massive amount of points on offer.
Pirelli has brought the Soft and Supersoft compounds for the Azerbaijan weekend. The Supersoft is expected to be the preferred choice for the start of the Feature Race, with most drivers likely to run it during the opening stint before swapping to the Soft tyre around lap six. The street circuit places serious stress on the rear axle, making traction management crucial in the closing stages to reward those who preserve their rubber. On top of that, teams must account for the high likelihood of a safety car intervention, which is a recurring factor here that can completely upend the strategic picture mid-race.
