Baku, June 21, AZERTAC

The city of Baku is getting ready for the second Formula 1 event. Usually racing weekend starts on Thursday but this time there is something different.

The beautiful capital of Azerbaijan welcomes Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans. Futuristic cars with specific racing noise are going to replace usual traffic buzz on the streets of Baku. The city never looked that agog – anticipation of the biggest spectacle in racing fuels up the hearts of local people and foreign tourists.

The story of 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts in the city center where the pit building stands on the watch for the first participants to come. Transport containers are the first to arrive. Before any driver, engineer or mechanic actually steps on Azerbaijan soil these containers will have been unpacked, sorted out and removed from the paddock area. Formula 1 is fast in every circle of action including logistics and unwrapping.

The cars are also here. Direct flight from the previous race in Canada delivered the most stunning racing tools on the planet right in Baku. From now on Formula 1 cars are going to wait before people with oil in their blood come to the city center and fire up the stunning racing event.

On the organizers point of view 2017 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix has started even earlier – long before the first containers with tackle arrived at the airport. The process of getting ready for this very weekend of racing commenced just after the finish of 2016 event in Baku.

Hundreds of people – from managers and interpreters to fire marshals and volunteers – worked day and night to see the Baku race happen. Doctors and lifeguards practiced their skills in extracting people from narrow spaces so that Formula 1 drivers could be sure that they are in safe hands in case of emergency. Marshals and stewards were trained head-to-toe so that the race itself could go smooth. Volunteers from all over Azerbaijan mugged up the tiniest details about Baku City Circuit and the nearest neighborhood so that race fans could feel hospitality and discoverability of Baku.

Many would say that the job is done, and Formula 1 can just come and let the show begin. The truth is that the job is not done until the last guest leaves the country. Only the teamwork of the whole city can make Grand Prix successful and significant.

Racing fans will start to come on Thursday – the day of autograph sessions, circuit walks and dipping into atmosphere of Baku. On this day spectators would have the opportunity to visit F1 Village, buy some merchandise with Formula 1 logos and interact with tourist entertainers engaged to racing.

Friday is the first day of racing action. First practice sessions, first qualifying and first impressions of the cars on track. In the evening all the attendees can shift their attention to music: a concert of Tarkan opens the intense entertainment program of 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Even Formula 1 drivers love these concerts: last year Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz took his sisters to watch the show.

Saturday and Sunday are the main days for every Formula 1 Grand Prix. Lots of racing, lots of fun – and after the days full of autosport fans can move to the concert of The Black Eyed Peas, Nicole Scherzinger and Mariah Carey. Not a minute to miss: the schedule of 2017

Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix puts excitement to a whole new level.

Fernando Alonso, two-fold Formula 1 world champion: “Baku is a great city, and after the success of last year’s inaugural grand prix I’m really looking forward to going racing again in Azerbaijan. As a Baku Ambassador, I’ve spent more time there than a lot of my peers and colleagues, and it’s a really cool location to host a Formula 1 race. We literally drive straight through the center of the historical old town and the old city walls make the perfect setting for this race in a new territory for the sport. Baku City Circuit is the fastest street track on the calendar, so from a driver’s perspective it’s really exciting to be racing at such high speeds with the walls closing in on you either side.”