RacingNews365: Baku Saturday race fits into a long F1 tradition

According to RacingNews365 and Grande Prêmio, the unusual race day in Baku is linked to the national day of remembrance on Sunday 27 September. Both outlets report that the weekend was brought forward at the request of the promoter and the Azerbaijani authorities. The official F1 schedule confirms that the race is scheduled for Saturday, but does not explain the decision-making process.

In his RacingNews365 retrospective of 24 September, author Stefan Kerk takes this as an opportunity to look at earlier Saturday races. His central point: Sunday is the usual race day, but Formula 1 has a much longer history of departing from that convention. Some caveats are needed, however, regarding the historical figures and examples.

How many Saturday races have there been?

Kerk cites 61 Saturday Grands Prix already held, without explaining his counting method. Writing for Grande Prêmio on the same day, Victor Martins puts the number of races that counted towards the Drivers’ World Championship before Baku at 62. He includes the Indianapolis 500 races of 1953 and 1959: World Championship races that were not held under Formula 1’s technical regulations. Without those two, his count comes to 60. He does not include sprints.

This makes clear why the scope of the count matters, but does not conclusively explain the difference between the two publications. The cut-off point is also important: the Saturday race in Baku has yet to take place.

Lauda’s victory and a forgotten title decider

The accounts of the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix differ in emphasis. Kerk cites the football World Cup as the reason for the Saturday date. Motor Sport’s contemporary race report provides no further confirmation of this, but does describe the sporting controversy surrounding winner Niki Lauda. His Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B was allowed to start after the organisers rejected five official protests before the race. The F1 results archive confirms Lauda’s victory on Saturday 17 June.

On Las Vegas, the retrospective contains a demonstrable omission. Kerk presents the Caesars Palace races of 1981 and 1982 as the only two Saturday races on American soil at which the drivers’ title was decided. This leaves out Max Verstappen’s 2024 championship. According to the official F1 race report, the Dutchman secured his fourth world title by finishing fifth in the Saturday-night race in Las Vegas. There had therefore already been a third case.

Third free practice and qualifying are scheduled for Friday in Baku. Under the current schedule, the Grand Prix starts on Saturday at 15.00 local time, or 11.00 UTC.