Foreigners buy more than half of F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix tickets

Sixty per cent of tickets for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been bought by foreign fans.

The remarks came from the Executive Director of Baku City Circuit (BCC) Operation Company, Arif Rahimov, in an interview with F1news on Wednesday.

According to him, in previous years, local fans used to buy the tickets at the last moment before the sales are closed.

“This year we’ve already sold quite more tickets domestically than in 2019. It is not surprising that international fans buy tickets earlier - they need to buy air tickets and book a hotel. It's great that tourists are returning to Azerbaijan, to Baku. This year the Grand Prix will take place in June when the weather in the country is perfect, warm, and sunny. Things are going well, we’re confident that we would be able to sell all the tickets before the start of the race weekend,” Rahimov said.

Rahimov is convinced that the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix has become one of the most popular races on the F1 calendar in recent years due to the optimum balance between slow and speedy sections of the Baku City Circuit racetrack.

“That's one of the reasons why we have seen five different winners in the five races we have held. And I’m sure that this year we’ll see a new winner again. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix surprises every year. Think of the famous clash between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton in 2017 or the Red Bull clash a year later,” he said.

“Let’s not forget the drama of last season, when Max Verstappen ran out of track with a tire blowout and the podium places were decided in the final laps. Fans know that this race cannot be missed, that is, anything can happen in it. This is the most unpredictable race of the season!”.

Rahimov added that all necessary precautions will be taken in Baku to keep everyone safe despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.