{"id":905955,"date":"2026-09-23T00:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T00:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/905955\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T00:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T00:28:10","slug":"why-formula-1-is-racing-in-azerbaijan-which-borders-iran-amid-uncertainty-over-middle-east-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/905955\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Formula 1 is racing in Azerbaijan, which borders Iran, amid uncertainty over Middle East races"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during the second practice for the 2025 Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan.Darko Bandic\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

One consequence of the Iran war has been major turmoil to the international sports calendar and Formula 1 is no different. Even so, F1 is racing this week in Azerbaijan, which borders Iran. <\/p>\n

The Baku City Circuit hosting Saturday\u2019s race is around 170 kilometres from the nearest point on Azerbaijan\u2019s southern border with Iran. That\u2019s closer than the tracks in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia which had races called off earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at the security concerns in Azerbaijan and other countries near Iran, what that could mean for F1 this year and in 2027, and why F1 is racing on a Saturday.<\/p>\n

Travel advice shapes decision-making for F1<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan has been less directly affected by the Iran war than the Gulf nations, many of which host major U.S. military bases and were targeted by Iranian strikes.<\/p>\n

In March, Azerbaijan blamed Iran for a drone strike which injured four civilians and damaged an airport building in the exclave of Nakchivan. The Iranian military denied launching a drone. The incident didn\u2019t lead to any major military escalation. <\/p>\n

F1\u2019s headquarters are in London and many teams and staff are based in Britain, which means British travel advice is influential in the paddock. <\/p>\n

Britain advises against travel to Azerbaijan\u2019s border with Armenia or areas affected by armed conflict in the past \u2013 especially because of a risk of landmines \u2013 but those areas aren\u2019t near the capital, Baku. The British advice mentions \u201ca heightened risk of regional tension\u201d but doesn\u2019t mention Iranian attacks or any need to seek shelter, as it does for Gulf nations like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan\u2019s airspace is key for global travel and events like F1<\/p>\n

F1 relies heavily on air cargo to ship thousands of parts and tires \u2013 and of course drivers and team staff \u2013 around the world on a schedule with almost no margin for delays.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A banner in support of Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren is displayed on a balcony ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan.Ryan Pierse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Iran war has made Azerbaijan\u2019s airspace some of the busiest in the world. Airlines use it to take a route around the north of Iran while avoiding Russia, which closed its airspace to dozens of European and U.S. airlines in 2022.<\/p>\n

That air access is especially valuable for F1 because Azerbaijan is now the first in a run of three races in three weeks, meaning a tight turnaround for staff and cargo.<\/p>\n

F1 has slotted in a replacement race in Malaysia for next week, still with Bahrain Grand Prix branding, ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix the week after.<\/p>\n

A rare F1 race on a Saturday in Baku<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan is marking 10 years since its first F1 race but this year\u2019s event is a little different.<\/p>\n

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is taking place on a Saturday because Sunday is a national holiday, Remembrance Day. F1 said last year that \u201cgovernment stakeholders\u201d and the race\u2019s promoter asked for the event to be moved. Practice will be Thursday and qualifying Friday. <\/p>\n

Sept. 27 is the anniversary of the date in 2020 when fighting broke out over the region of Karabakh, internationally known as Nagorno-Karabakh and controlled at the time by ethnic Armenian forces. Azerbaijan later re took full control of the region in 2023. <\/p>\n

Iran war remains a concern for F1 in Middle East<\/p>\n

F1 has indicated it still plans to race in Qatar in November and Abu Dhabi in December if possible, but has also explored backup options. A replacement race at Italy\u2019s Imola circuit is the likeliest alternative.<\/p>\n

Any problems with those races could have an immediate impact on next year\u2019s schedule, too. F1 announced last week Bahrain will host the season-opening race in March, as well as preseason testing. <\/p>\n

Still, two other world championships governed by the FIA have abandoned plans to race in the Middle East this year. <\/p>\n

The World Rally Championship last week cancelled its season-ending event in Saudi Arabia after travel concerns from teams. The World Endurance Championship in July cancelled races in Bahrain and Qatar and replaced them with European venues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during the second practice for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,578,894,887,576,577,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-905955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-f1","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}