Sep.16 (GMM) Promoters of the Azerbaijan GP are decided to remain on the F1 calendar past the present 2026 contract.
Flavio Briatore admitted on the Baku road race on the weekend that he was concerned with the occasion from day one.
“About ten years in the past, I spoke about it with the president, Ilham Aliyev, who wished to place the nation on the map,” he informed La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Again then, no person knew something about it, now it’s bought out, with spectators coming from half the world.”
Certainly, thousands and thousands world wide now know concerning the historic metropolis, with remnants of the Center Ages mixing with stunning previous structure, buildings from the following Soviet period, and ultra-modern skyline developments.
“All these types inform the story of the town’s evolution,” Arzu Huseynova, one of many native promoters of the occasion, informed NOS. Baku honours its historical past, but it surely additionally seems to be ahead.
“You possibly can see that blend of previous and new all alongside the circuit.”
Nevertheless, the Formulation 1 occasion, now courting again to the primary version in 2016, is just not with out controversy.
The groups even needed to function with out Formulation 1’s official meteorological and radar service, Meteo France, on the weekend due to the French authorities’s stance in opposition to the continuing Armenia-Azerbaijan battle.
Some strict guidelines are additionally in place for the attending media and journalists, in response to NOS. One photographer discovered that the very best spot to seize the F1 automobiles was alongside the twelfth century metropolis wall, requiring him to entry the roof of a restaurant.
However when he tried to take a photograph of the opposite facet of the town from that vantage level, he was informed that was forbidden. Why? “As a result of these are the foundations,” the restaurant worker informed him.
Co-promoter Huseynova additionally refused to reply questions concerning the Armenia battle, which has raged for the reason that finish of 80s over the Nagorno-Karabakh area.
For Azerbaijan, the main focus of the grand prix is only about sport and promotion of the nation.
“Formulation 1 is a chance to point out that we’re able to organising main occasions,” Huseynova stated. “Because the first version in 2016, the eye for our nation has elevated enormously.
“It brings 1000’s of followers to the town and in addition creates quite a lot of jobs.”
The present race contract expires after 2026, and Huseynova stated the intention is to maintain Azerbaijan on the Formulation 1 calendars of the longer term.
“The continual investments in infrastructure and leisure are a sign that we need to make the occasion higher yearly,” she stated.
