F2 bulks up Baku schedule with extra feature race – is this a clue for F1’s future?
There will be more points than expected on offer for F2 drivers in Baku, but does the change to the schedule just days before the next round provide a clue about the F1 calendar?
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
The Formula 2 championship has announced a "supersized" meeting for its next round in Baku. The move will see it host an additional feature race in Azerbaijan and comes just 10 days before the race weekend is due to kick off.
It is an unusual and late decision that inevitably raises eyebrows at a time when the end of the Formula 1 season remains uncertain. At present, the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix could potentially be unable to go ahead as planned due to the tense geopolitical situation in the Middle East.
In practical terms, what the F2 organisers announced on Monday, just over a week before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, is a double-header weekend, with an additional qualifying session and feature race compared to the usual format.
"As Formula 2 is the only support event at the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix, together with the promoters, we have opted for a supersized F2 race weekend, with one free practice, two qualifying sessions, one sprint race and two feature races," F2 CEO Bruno Michel confirmed.
"This is the only weekend where the timetable allows the additional sessions, which will increase the level of entertainment even further for the attending crowd and all our fans. The Baku City Circuit always provides us with amazing racing, so we’re very pleased to make the 12th Round of our season pretty unique."
The organisers have not specified exactly why they chose to expand the Baku meeting, but it is difficult not to see it - without being able to say so for certain - as a way of preparing for the cancellation or reshaping of some of the end-of-season events and compensating for the points that would be lost as a result.
The F2 season finale is still scheduled for Abu Dhabi
Photo by: Dom Gibbons / LAT Images via Getty Images
"The final two rounds of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will resume with the usual weekend format made of one free practice followed by one qualifying, a sprint race and a feature race," F2 said in a statement.
That is the situation today, but it could quickly change depending on the decisions made by F1 regarding the end of the season.
The FIA and F1 are expected to decide on the remainder of the 2026 calendar before the end of the month, with a relocated Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, already added for early October.
Among the options recently discussed is the possibility of cancelling the two trips to Qatar and Abu Dhabi and heading to Imola in late November for the season final instead.
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