Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on TV: Safety car phases almost guaranteed

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the blisteringly fast, challenging Baku City Circuit is guaranteed to be a spectacle: crashes into the barriers are the order of the day, and it is all but certain that safety car driver Bernd Mayländer will be called into action.

There’s no rule without an exception: in 2016, at the debut of the World Championship round – then known as the European Grand Prix – fans had witnessed wild action in the GP2 series; perhaps that’s why the Formula 1 stars didn’t take the full risk. That was soon to change.

In 2017, Bernd Mayländer had to come out three times: on lap 12 (Daniil Kvyat’s car had come to a standstill), on lap 17 (debris on the track from Kimi Räikkönen’s race car), and on lap 20 (a collision between the two Force India race cars, with even more debris from Räikkönen’s Ferrari).

Two call-outs for Mayländer in 2018: Right in Lap 1 (Ocon/Räikkönen collision; Sirotkin boxed in between Alonso and Hülkenberg, resulting in another collision), then in Lap 40 (collision between Red Bull Racing stars Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, Grosjean went off the track).

In 2019, Mayländer remained in the pits; there was only one virtual safety car period, when Pierre Gasly had to leave his race car in an emergency exit.

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Following the 2020 break (due to Covid-19), Mayländer had plenty to do in 2021: an accident involving Lance Stroll following a puncture on lap 30, an accident involving Max Verstappen following a puncture on lap 48, and then even a red flag. Mayländer led the field at the restart.

In 2022, there was a virtual safety car period when Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari came to a standstill (lap 9), followed by another on lap 33, this time when Kevin Magnussen’s car broke down.

In 2023, Nyck de Vries crashed his car into the wall on lap 11. In 2024, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Pérez collided shortly before the end of the race.

In 2025, Oscar Piastri crashed his McLaren into a barrier; later, Williams driver Albon and Alpine driver Colapinto collided.

We’ll keep you up to date on how things unfold in 2026 via our live ticker from qualifying and the Grand Prix; of course, we’ve also summarised the key broadcast times from our TV partners here for you.

• Azerbaijan Grand Prix on TV

• Thursday 24 September

• 08.55: Sky Sport F1 – Greatest Races: Johnny Herbert, Nürburgring 1999

• 10.00: Sky Sport F1 – Warm-Up, the motorsport special

• 10.15: Sky Sport F1 – Coverage of the first practice session begins

• 10.15: ServusTV – Coverage of the first practice session begins

• 10.30: First free practice

• 13.45: Sky Sport F1 – Coverage of second free practice begins

• 1.45 pm: ServusTV – Coverage of second practice begins

• 14.00: Second free practice

• 15.30: Sky Sport F1 – Team principals’ press conference

• 16.30: Sky Sport F1 – First practice session repeat

• 18.00: Sky Sport F1 – Second practice session replay

• 20.15: Sky Sport F1 – First practice session repeat

• 21.45: Sky Sport F1 – Second practice session replay

• 00.00: Sky Sport F1 – 2026 Spanish Grand Prix

• Friday, 25 September

• 07.15: Sky Sport F1 – 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

• 10.15: Sky Sport F1 – Start of coverage of the third practice session

• 10.15: ServusTV – Coverage of third free practice begins

• 10.30: Third free practice

• 1.30 pm: Sky Sport F1 – Coverage of qualifying begins

• 1.30 pm: ServusTV – Coverage of Qualifying begins

• 1.30 pm: RTL – Qualifying coverage begins

• 1.55 pm: SRF zwei – Qualifying coverage begins

• 14.00: Qualifying

• 15.00: ServusTV – Qualifying analysis

• 15.30: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying press conference

• 16.45: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying replay

• 17.35: SRF zwei – Qualifying repeat

• 20.00: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying repeat

• 23.00: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying Replay

• Saturday, 26 September

• 06.00: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying highlights

• 07.15: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying repeat

• 10.15: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying highlights

• 10.30: Sky Sport F1 – Spanish Grand Prix highlights

• 11.00: ServusTV – Countdown to the race

• 11.00: Sky Sport F1 – Drivers’ parade

• 11.30: Sky Sport F1 – Pre-race coverage

• 12.00: RTL – Pre-race coverage

• 12.20: SRF zwei – Pre-race coverage

• 12.55: Sky Sport F1 – Live race coverage begins

• 12.55: ServusTV – Race coverage begins

• 12.55: RTL – Race coverage begins

• 12.55: SRF zwei – Race coverage begins

• 13.00: Azerbaijan Grand Prix

• 14.40: ServusTV – Analysis and interviews

• 15.00: Sky Sport F1 – Analysis and interviews

• 15.45: Sky Sport F1 – Race press conference

• 16.30: Sky Sport F1 – Ted’s Notebook

• 17.45: Sky Sport F1 – Race replay

• 19.45: Sky Sport F1 – Qualifying highlights

• 20.00: Sky Sport F1 – Race Replay

• 23.40: ORF 1 – Race Replay

• 11.45 pm: Sky Sport F1 – Race Replay