Does Baku Street Circuit House the Longest Straight On the F1 Calendar?

F1 will host the 8th race in Baku, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, this weekend. The track is a high-speed street circuit with a combination of long straights and 90-degree corners. Interestingly, despite being a street circuit, most teams go for a low-downforce setup here, so they can take advantage of the long start-finish straight.

Cars with a greater straight-line or top speed will perform better than cars with more drag. The drivers can reach speeds of 350km/h on average at the end of the straight, but is it the longest straight in F1 history?

How long is the start-finish straight in Baku for F1 Azerbaijan GP?

Famed F1 track designer Hermann Tilke has designed the Baku International Track. The track oversees the Mediterranean Sea and goes through different parts of the city. It has F1 cars going through a castle and the main city roads at varying speeds.

But arguably, the most famous part of the track is the start-finish straight. If we also consider the kinks as a part of the straight, the straight is 1.6 km in distance.

As per the F1 stat blog, it is even longer than the straights on famous tracks like Spa, Bahrain, and Shanghai, which are around 1.2 km long and touted as few of the longest straights in F1 history.

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There are teams in the 2022 season to whom the track in Baku suits better. Teams like Red Bull and Alpine can be on the hunt for big points in the upcoming race. But it would be interesting to see which teams will compromise their setup for the long straight.

Can Sergio Perez make a back-to-back win in Azerbaijan?

Sergio Perez won the last Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2021. It was the first win for the Mexican driver, who was driving for Red Bull. It was his only sixth race. But he has an opportunity to make a back-to-back win at the track for the first time in his career.

He’s coming on the back of winning, arguably the biggest win of his career in Monaco. Also, Red Bull currently has the fastest car in 2022 compared to their rivals, which will give him an opportunity to stand on the top spot of the podium once again.

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It would be interesting to see if Red Bull can retain their straight-line speed advantage over Ferrari heading into Baku this weekend. It is a crucial weekend for Perez as well. If he wins in Baku, he will certainly be contending for the world championship.