Why Fernando Alonso will race in Baku on Saturday, not Sunday | OneFootball

No one should wait until Sunday to sit in front of the television, because they’ll be arriving about 24 hours late. Fernando Alonso will race in the Azerbaijan GP this Saturday, September 26 (13:00, DAZN F1). There is no Sprint or some new Formula 1 invention: exceptionally, the entire Baku schedule has been brought forward by one day.

The explanation lies outside the circuit. On Sunday, September 27, Azerbaijan marks Remembrance Day, a day dedicated to honoring Azerbaijani soldiers who died during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. The authorities asked that the Grand Prix not coincide with a date of special national significance, and the FIA agreed to modify the calendar.

A weekend that starts on Thursday

The change also makes it necessary to move the rest of the sessions forward. The cars will go out on track on Thursday, with the first free practice at 10:30 and the second at 14:00. On Friday there will be a third session at 10:30 and qualifying at 14:00. All times are in mainland Spain time.

Racing on a Saturday feels strange, but it doesn’t make Baku some unprecedented oddity either. Las Vegas already usually holds its Grand Prix that day, and other races have previously changed their schedule because of local circumstances. This time, the reason has nothing to do with tyres, strategy, or television.

So it’s time to change one of the oldest habits of the fans. There will be no Formula 1 in Baku on Sunday. To watch Alonso, you’ll have to tune in a day earlier.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.