Baku City Circuit talks upcoming Formula-1 racing in Baku

By Trend

The interest in Formula 1 racing is growing annually by 30 percent, and both local residents and foreign guests show great interest in it, Nigar Arpadarai, Head of Marketing and Communications Department of the Baku City Circuit (BCC) said Sept. 13.

The head of the department noted that this year the sale of tickets is planned to start earlier, that is, from the end of October.

"This time the sale of tickets for Azerbaijani citizens will also begin with the campaign of selling tickets at discounted prices. Early ticket sales are connected with the fact that foreigners make their plans in advance," Arpadarai said.

She also touched upon the issue of the races held in the country in the following years.

"The negotiations are underway to extend the races, but it is still unknown for what period they will be extended," she said.

Arpadarai also noted that the preparations (installation work) for the upcoming race will start in November.

Earlier, the Executive Director of Baku City Circuit Arif Rahimov said Baku City Circuit wants the race to be held in June, not April.

"It takes three to four months to prepare the route. When the race takes place in April, it means that we have to start this work in winter, when the weather is unfavorable, it is raining frequently, strong wind blows, and all this slows down the process. So we would definitely like to move the race to June. But first we need to look at the calendar, I do not know what are the plans of the organizers of the championship for the next year, how they are going to draw up those plans, but ideally we would like to hold the race in the summer", said Rahimov.

Baku hosted the Formula 1 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix race on April 27-29 this year, which was won by the pilot of the Mercedes AMG F1 team Lewis Hamilton.