Azerbaijan GP 2026: Baku track repairs completed overnight after drivers' voice dissatisfaction

Overnight remedial work has been completed at Turn 7 of the Baku City Circuit after F1 drivers voiced their dissatisfaction with the corner during their post-FP2 briefing.

The upper layer of the track surface at Turn 7 became loose due to the intense heat experienced through Thursday’s running, prompting urgent repairs ahead of Friday’s F1 qualifying session.

What Was Repaired

From pre-event race director's notes released before the race, the following circuit sections needed repairs:

• Turn 7 approach - this part of the circuit was resurfaced before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when the patch was the cause of the current trouble. The loose surface layer was repaired overnight.
• Turns 2, 3 and 4 - patches of these turns were resurfaced before the weekend.
• Turn 19 - another patch was installed at this turn.

While the identities of drivers reporting problems remain undisclosed, their complaints were sufficiently important to make circuit authorities act immediately.

On-Track incident at Turn 7

This corner caused difficulties during practice sessions on Thursday. Arvid Lindblad had a tough time at Turn 7 during the first practice session, managing to halt his Racing Bulls car before crashing into barriers at the corner exit. Prior to that, Kimi Antonelli had a mechanical problem which forced him to stop his car in the run-off area at this very turn.

Current track status

It appeared early in the morning on Friday before FP3 that other areas of the circuit had not been resurfaced overnight. There was no problem with the F2 Sprint Race run at Turn 7, although with the low temperatures in the morning race, there are still doubts as to whether the work will stand up through the day as F1 qualifying is set to start.

There were already some warnings from drivers about the last sector. Gabriel Bortoleto mentioned that slow cars doing their first laps would cause dangerous conditions in Turns 18 and 19: "It can be a mess... hopefully, that won't be dangerous."

As the track temperature increases, everyone's attention is focused on Turn 7 before the start of F1 qualifying for the Azerbaijan GP 2026.