The 'boring' circuit Baku could have had
Despite the first Formula 1 race in Baku being a dull affair, the two most recent grands prix there have been full of fireworks. This is largely down to the city circuit's layout, which could have been completely different
When Azerbaijan was added (originally as the European Grand Prix) to the Formula 1 calendar in 2016, many were sceptical about what Baku would bring to the championship.
After seeing several new race projects including Turkey, India and South Korea fall by the wayside as those venues failed to attract the fan or government support needed to keep them going, few were convinced that the Azerbaijan tale would be much different.
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Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
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