IT'S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we're excited about ahead of the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The 2026 championship is about to pick up some serious momentum towards the end of the season, as we begin to kick off three consecutive triple headers. With Kimi Antonelli in charge of the Drivers’ Championship at this stage, there is always the possibility for a dramatic turn of events as we head for the latest round in Baku.

Hadjar’s potential return

Isack Hadjar has yet to race for Red Bull since injuring his wrist during the summer shutdown, missing the three races that have followed in Zandvoort, Monza and Madrid.

The latter pair were back-to-back rounds that left little room for a return in between the two, as Red Bull have clearly stated they are not willing to take any risks with Hadjar’s recovery. Liam Lawson has filled in for the Frenchman so far at Red Bull, with Yuki Tsunoda in turn racing at VCARB since the summer break.

Given another two weeks between events, there is an increasing chance of Hadjar returning to his seat in Azerbaijan, but Red Bull have stressed that will only happen once they are certain he has fully recovered.

As Baku kicks off a triple header, it will be a testing spell of races to come back for if Hadjar is deemed fit, so keep an eye out for an update in the coming days.

Upgrades for Williams

A team that have publicly revealed their plans for an upgrade package in Baku months in advance are Williams, who have been having a disappointing season so far. 2026 was meant to be a year that saw a competitive Williams fighting towards the front of the midfield, but instead they arrive this weekend in ninth place in the constructors’ standings.

Audi are just six points ahead while Haas are a further four points head in seventh overall. If an upgrade package can put Williams in the mix for points on a more regular basis then both of those teams could come into their sights.

But a step forward in performance that shows Williams are on the right track with their car development will be just as important as the actual results and points they might score.

Focusing on the other end of the grid, Mercedes have been open about their inability to bring upgrades at the same rate as some of their rivals this season, having prioritised the launch car that proved so dominant in the early rounds.

Although that advantage appears to have diminished as the season has gone on, it has not exactly led to Mercedes becoming uncompetitive, and Kimi Antonelli arrives in Azerbaijan having won the last two races.

While Mercedes were coy at times about their upgrade plans, last week they confirmed they will bring new parts to Malaysia, so they could face another weekend where they have to withstand the pressure being put on by the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.

A slow-moving driver market

A run of nine races in 11 weeks are likely to fly by, but while the season is set to move at top speed, the same can’t be said of the driver market in recent weeks.

Since the announcements leading into Zandvoort – including Max Verstappen’s contract extension, as well as the two Williams drivers remaining in place – there has yet to be any knock-on movement. The Haas line-up remains unconfirmed, with the team having tested Ryo Hirakawa, Rafael Camara, Leonardo Fornaroli and Jack Doohan in the past month.

There has also been ongoing focus on what double World Champion Fernando Alonso will do next season, with the Spaniard yet to announce his plans for 2027. While he is expected to stay with Aston Martin and continue racing in F1, his home race in Madrid would have made a lot of sense for an announcement, yet that weekend came and went without confirmation.

Racing Bulls could also be a team where there is movement, and there’s always a chance of a surprise where a line-up looked likely to continue unchanged.

Street fighting a day earlier

Set your reminders, we’re going racing on Saturday in Baku! And no, I don’t mean with a Sprint, but for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix itself.

The race will take place one day earlier than usual in order to avoid a clash with the country’s Remembrance Day on September 27, meaning the entire schedule has shifted forward by 24 hours compared to a standard race weekend. That means media duties will be carried out on Wednesday, before practice on Thursday, Qualifying on Friday and the race on Saturday.

This year marks 10 years since we first went racing in Azerbaijan back in 2016, and what is staying the same is the testing circuit that has provided some extremely entertaining and dramatic races in the past. As a street circuit, Baku has the usual traits of punishing mistakes due to the vicinity of the barriers, but with the extremely tight castle section demanding particular precision from the drivers, that is heightened.

Then when you take into account the extremely long run to end the lap before the braking point for Turn 1, there are plenty of overtaking opportunities as well, that have led to positions changing right up to the final few metres before the finish line on the final lap of the race.

A bumper F2 round

The last time we went racing, Formula 3 was wrapping up its season at the Madring with a jam-packed schedule that included two Feature races on top of the reverse grid Sprint, and now Formula 2 is set to follow suit.

The Baku City Circuit is going to play host to two Qualifying sessions on Thursday, before an early morning Sprint Race on Friday and then a Feature Race prior to Formula 1 Qualifying that afternoon. The second Feature Race will still take place on Saturday as planned, as the opening race action before the Grand Prix.

F2 arrives with the top two contenders in the title race – leader Nikola Tsolov and pursuer Rafael Camara – separated by just seven points.

But it’s not just the Red Bull and Ferrari juniors that are in the mix for the championship, with Alpine-backed Gabriele Mini within a race victory of the lead as he sits 24 points back from Tsolov, and fellow Alpine young driver Alex Dunne a title outsider at 38 points adrift.

Given how dramatic some of the F2 races have been in the past, Baku could prove to be a pivotal weekend in the outcome of the title race this season.