F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix hit with delay as teams left waiting

Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix hit with delay as teams left waiting

Qualifying issues in Baku

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson F1 Editor

Motorsport journalist covering F1 since 2024

Friday 25 September 2026 14:11 Updated: 14:21

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F1's schedule has been mixed up massively at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the teams and drivers were left waiting longer than expected to get out onto the track on Friday after the FIA confirmed a delay to proceedings.

Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was scheduled to get underway at 4pm local time in Baku, but the session was delayed by race control.

The delay meant that the track marshals could clean up the track further after an incident in the F2 feature race earlier in the day.

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That race was red-flagged on lap 12 out of 29, with a multi-car pileup having caused a lengthy delay before the race eventually got back underway.

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F1 qualifying gets underway in Baku

Despite the F2 race getting going again, though, the FIA race director wanted to ensure the track was completely clear for the F1 cars to go qualifying.

As a result, Friday's session was delayed, although as it turned out, it wasn't for very long at all.

Qualifying eventually got underway at 4:04pm local time, meaning the marshals were able to clear any remaining debris or issues on the track in under five minutes.

We didn't have to wait very long for some drama either, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli out of the session after sustaining damage to his left-front tyre after hitting the wall in Q1.