c/o Wiki ........ The Baku City Circuit (Azerbaijani: Baki S?h?r Halqasi) is a motor racing street circuit located in Baku, Azerbaijan constructed near Baku Boulevard. A lap of the circuit is 6.003 kilometres (3.730 mi), making it the second-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar (after Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps).The inaugural Formula One race at the circuit was the 2016 European Grand Prix and its support events. A year later, in 2017, the circuit held the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The event is organised by Baku City Circuit Operation Company (Azerbaijani: Baki S?h?r Halqasi ?m?liyyat Sirk?ti).
2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held at the circuit on 25 June 2017. The race was a much more chaotic and exciting event than the previous year's race, and was widely regarded as the best race of 2017. The race was notable for Sebastian Vettel deliberately ramming into the side of Lewis Hamilton after accusing Hamilton of brake-checking him under the Safety Car. Vettel received a stop-go penalty for his actions, eventually finishing 4th, whilst Hamilton's headrest became loose while he was leading the race, which forced him to pit and eventually finish in 5th. Daniel Ricciardo won the race for Red Bull, with Valtteri Bottas finishing second despite being a lap down and last in the early stages of the race after colliding with Kimi Räikkönen on lap 1, and Lance Stroll taking a surprise podium for Williams despite being passed by Bottas on the run to the finish line.
2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held in April 2018, brought forward to avoid clashing with the celebrations for the centenary of the Azerbaijan Republic. The race saw similar amounts of chaos and drama as the previous year's race, the most notable moments being the collision between Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen on Lap 40, putting both out of the race, and Romain Grosjean crashing behind the resultant Safety Car period. Valtteri Bottas had taken the lead from Sebastian Vettel after pitting behind the Safety Car, and Vettel locked up whilst trying to overtake Bottas on the Safety Car restart, dropping him behind Hamilton, Räikkönen and Sergio Pérez into 5th place. Bottas, however, suffered a puncture the lap after the restart and was forced to retire from the race, meaning that Lewis Hamilton eventually took the race victory, ahead of Räikkönen in second and Pérez in 3rd.
