Organisers of Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix say they have no concerns about the inclusion of a round in Miami from 2022, even suggesting a back-to-back would be feasible.
Azerbaijan joined Formula 1’s calendar in 2016 and will this year return to its early June date, having been held in April across 2018/19.
Formula 1 confirmed last month that Miami will join the schedule in 2022, with a date in Q2 outlined, prompting suggestions it will be twinned with Canada in mid-June.
Baku’s round was paired with Canada for its 2016 debut while the situation was due to be replicated in 2020 and 2021 before the pandemic forced the cancellation of Formula 1’s trip to Montreal.
“Being close to us in terms of being in June… we’ve flown from Baku to Canada, Baku-Miami is almost the same [in terms of distance], so we’ve done it before,” Baku City Circuit chief Arif Rahimov said.
“If they’re in June they can be back to back with Canada, which is logistically possible, and not extremely complicated, less complicated than Baku-Canada or Baku-Miami, we don’t know what races are going out [of the calendar].
“It’s hard to speculate about next year’s calendar because there’s so many things changing and this year is uncertain.
“In general, if we are close with Miami or Canada, I think it’s a bit of a problem for people like you [the paddock] who travel from one race to the other, for us it’s a little bit of a problem when we’re trying to winding down and demobilising the circuit, but it’s doable.”
Formula 1’s calendar continues to expand, with 23 races scheduled this year and expected again in 2022, but Rahimov says the growth is not a threat to Azerbaijan unless events are added in nearby territories.
“I think [for] live crowds [at grands prix], it depends on the regions,” he said on the expansion.
“If we have 25 [races] but five in the [United] States… I don’t have many spectators coming from that part of the world anyway.
“But if we have five races added in the Middle East that would be a problem for us I guess, or in CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries, as we have a lot of spectators from Russia, if they get diverted to a different [event] that’d be a problem.”
