Baku race set for 2017 name tweak

Oct.4 - The formula one race on the streets of Baku is set for a name tweak.

When the race in the Azerbaijan capital made its F1 debut, promoter Arif Rahimov said the former Soviet state wanted to showcase itself as a "modern European country".

So it was called the European grand prix.

However, the major Azerbaijan news agency Trend now reports that the Baku race is set to be renamed the Azerbaijan grand prix for 2017 and beyond.

"We hope the next race will be held under the name of the Azerbaijani grand prix," a circuit spokesperson confirmed.

"We successfully held formula one in the capital for the first time (in 2015)," she added. "Therefore, it is time to link the name of this stage with our country."

Trend said the request had been lodged with F1 authorities and there had been no objection.

Indeed, on the provisional 2017 calendar published recently, the FIA listed a June 18 race date for Baku, marked as "Azerbaijan".

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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