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When is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Start time, F1 grid, how to watch and weather forecast

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Flood, G. (2026, September 25). When is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Start time, F1 grid, how to watch and weather forecast. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/formula-one/when-is-the-azerbaijan-grand-prix-start-time-grid-how-to-watch-b1298458.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-25 · by George Flood

Quick Summary

The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled for Saturday, September 26 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, starting at 12pm BST (3pm local time). George Russell secured pole position ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri after Antonelli's unexpected crash left him in 16th place on the grid. The race will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports, with coverage beginning at 11am BST. Weather forecasts predict warm and sunny conditions throughout the day, with temperatures reaching around 25 degrees Celsius.
Written by AI on 2026-09-25, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Kimi Antonelli surprisingly crashed out during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, hitting the wall at the first corner and damaging his car's suspension, placing him 16th on the grid. His teammate George Russell secured pole position, despite Antonelli leading the Formula 1 standings by 81 points after 14 rounds.

Russell expressed confidence in his car's performance around the Baku City Circuit but acknowledged that Antonelli remains a threat due to previous performances from behind the starting grid. The race is set for Saturday, September 26, at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan, with temperatures expected to be warm and sunny. Apple TV offers a seven-day free trial to watch the race live streaming exclusively in the United States. Mercedes’ George Russell will start first ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Oscar Piastri from McLaren starts third. The longest straight on the F1 calendar at Baku City Circuit highlights the importance of straight-line speed for this event. Despite Antonelli's poor qualifying position, he remains the championship leader and a contender for victory. Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr., Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Arvid Lindblad, Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Kimi Antonelli, and others will also compete. The race is an early one for U.S. viewers starting at 7 a.m. ET on September 26. Despite the large point deficit, Russell aims to narrow it with a strong performance in Baku.

Written for “Azerbaijan Grand Prix” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Sports · 12 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 64/100
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 33 claims Outlet record 68/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 61/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 8 claims Outlet record 64/100
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles discuss a race involving Russell and Piastri in Azerbaijan, Article A focuses on qualifying sessions where Antonelli had an error and Russell secured pole position, while Article B describes the main race where Piastri lost potential points due to crashing.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 1 of 36 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss aspects of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, they refer to different stages of the event; Article A mentions qualifying and Russell's pole position, while Article B covers Piastri starting from third on race day.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 12 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A discusses qualifying and grid positions, while Article B covers the actual race results.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A discusses events from a year prior, while Article B covers current details about the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix and recent qualifying sessions.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
12
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
2
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8256 article(s) · 73 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 73 correction(s)

Who wrote this

George Flood
136 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The plan would always have been that when the ball goes into Mac Allister, Odegaard it’s your job to get after him.
🔮 His performances quickly caught the attention of Arsenal, who will add the Republic of Ireland Under-17 international to their academy ranks in the New Year.
🔮 The under-fire Carrick will remain in charge for the visit of Roma despite a third successive defeat at the hands of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Aston Villa also visiting Old Trafford before the next international break begins.
🔮 Alonso’s side will fancy their chances of making it back-to-back victories against a Sunderland outfit who sit rock bottom of the table after being brushed aside by newly-promoted Coventry last time out.
🔮 But to do so they will need to end their hoodoo at this famous old ground, where they have remarkably not won in the league since 2012.
🔮 Barcelona loanee Ronald Araujo, who played in central defence on Wednesday night, is set to resume his regular role at right-back in the absence of the injured Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley.
🔮 But to do so they will need to end their hoodoo at this famous old ground, where they have remarkably not won in the league since 2012.
🔮 Influential midfielder Szoboszlai limped off just over half an hour into his return from a hamstring issue suffered on international duty with Hungary that initially led to him missing two matches, while winger Munoz sustained a knee problem in the same fixture after scoring the equaliser against the Bees. Both players have sat out the last three games in a row against Villarreal, Brighton and Chelsea, though Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola admitted at his pre-match press conference on Friday that there was “a chance” they could each return against Arsenal.
🔮 Iraola made sweeping changes for Liverpool’s Carabao Cup win over Chelsea in midweek, but Alisson Becker, Jeremy Jacquet, Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola and Alexander Isak are all expected to return to the starting lineup against Arsenal.
🔮 Cole Palmer then stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick for Chelsea as Senne Lammens got two hands on the ball but could not keep it out, leaving reeling United trailing 2-0 with 10 men and 25 minutes still to play.
Also by George Flood
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 136 articles by George Flood →

Topics

Azerbaijan Grand Prix Baku Ferrari McLaren Sky Sports

Subjects

Baku GPE · 3× Ferrari ORG · 3× McLaren ORG · 3× Sky Sports ORG · 3× Antonelli PERSON · 2× Azerbaijan GPE · 2× Charles Leclerc PERSON · 2× Mercedes ORG · 2× Oscar Piastri PERSON · 2× Red Bull ORG · 2×

Narrative

Russell took full advantage of that uncharacteristic mistake from the Italian, dominating thereafter to comfortably clinch pole position ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. But he must turn that lead role into just a third victory of the season on the western shores of the Caspian Sea if he is to keep alive his hopes of still taking the title fight to runaway leader Antonelli with only nine races left to go this term.
framing: assertive · carried by 2 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-25
🔮 Saturday is set to be another warm and sunny day in Baku, where there will be only a moderate breeze and a high temperature of around 25 degrees.

Claims (12 extracted, 0 hedged)

That is after Antonelli surprisingly crashed out by hitting the wall in a rare error during the first session of qualifying on Friday, leaving him down in 16th position on the starting grid this weekend. asserted
Antonelli → crash → grid
Russell took full advantage of that uncharacteristic mistake from the Italian, dominating thereafter to comfortably clinch pole position ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. But he must turn that lead role into just a third victory of the season on the western shores of the Caspian Sea if he is to keep alive his hopes of still taking the title fight to runaway leader Antonelli with only nine races left to go this term. asserted
races → take → Antonelli
The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix takes place on Saturday, September 26 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. asserted
Prix → take → Baku
The race is due to start at 12pm BST, which 3pm local time in Baku. asserted
race → start → Baku
The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is being held a day earlier than usual - on Saturday, rather than the usual Sunday slot for F1 races. asserted
Prix → hold → races
That is to avoid a clash with Remembrance Day in Azerbaijan, which takes place on Sunday (September 27). asserted
which → avoid → Sunday
How to watch Azerbaijan Grand Prix TV channel: asserted
watch → watch → Prix
In the UK, the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is available to watch live on Sky Sports. asserted
Prix → watch → Sports
The main build-up starts at 11am BST on Saturday, with the race itself from 12pm. asserted
up → start → 12
Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the action live online through the Sky Go app. asserted
subscribers → catch → app
Saturday is set to be another warm and sunny day in Baku, where there will be only a moderate breeze and a high temperature of around 25 degrees. asserted
Saturday → set → degrees
There looks to be no chance of any rain playing a role in what is always an entertaining spectacle regardless. asserted
what → look → role
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