Formula 1 embarks on its first triple header of the season this week with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix the first of three races in as many weekends. The race on the streets of Baku - which takes place on Saturday rather than the usual Sunday - was originally due to be a standalone event with the Singapore Grand Prix following on two weeks later. But the moving of the Bahrain Grand Prix to Malaysia in the week between the two events has created the run of three successive race weeks, with two more triple headers scheduled to close out the 2026 season.
So what can we expect from this first Azerbaijan-Malaysia-Singapore triple and what will the world championship picture - which currently sees Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli holding a commanding lead - look like on the other side into mid-October? While Antonelli's victory last time out in Madrid was fortuitous thanks to the Virtual Safety Car timing that helped him and hindered McLaren's race-leading Lando Norris, the Mercedes driver was enjoying another strong weekend at F1's brand-new venue and was in position to capitalise on such a slice of luck. That victory, Antonelli's eighth in 14 races this season, means he arrives in Baku with an 81-point lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship.
Since seeing his title advantage over team-mate George Russell cut to just 25 points at the British Grand Prix at the start of July, Antonelli's lead has increased in each of the last five race weekends to its current season-high total. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Russell remains Antonelli's closest challenger but he all but conceded his hopes of beating his team-mate to the crown after falling more than the equivalent of three races wins behind the Italian by finishing fifth at the Madring. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton had already effectively ruled himself out after the previous weekend's race at Monza, but was more certain in saying his title hopes were over after brake problems at the Madring saw him register his first DNF of the season.
Hamilton is now 101 points off the pace while fourth-placed Norris, the grid's in-form driver alongside Antonelli, saw his own deficit grow to 106 points on a weekend the reigning world champion was unlucky not to make it three wins in four. All the championship cards appear firmly stacked in Antonelli's favour, not that the young Italian appears to carry the weight of being the clear title favourite particularly heavily. The 20-year-old has continued to insist he is "not thinking about the championship" in every interview he is asked about it, a mantra that his team boss Toto Wolff says is genuine and the best one for his driver to adopt.
Yet time is obviously running out for any one of the would-be challengers to put a stunning run of form and results together over the final rounds to truly trouble him. There is still time, though, and with 83 points up for grabs during this first triple header of rounds alone - 75 across the three grands prix and eight for the Singapore Sprint - Mercedes are right to remain cautious - for now. But should Antonelli finish the Singapore weekend on October 11 with a similar or even increased lead compared to the 81-point one he holds now, then the odds on him not becoming the sport's youngest-ever world champion will become very long indeed, even with a maximum of six rounds (and 150 points) left to play for.
Kicking off this intense run into the autumn is the Baku City Circuit, a high-speed, wall-lined street track through the middle of Azerbaijan's capital that has often featured on lists of a season's most dramatic races during its first decade on the calendar. Last year's race - and indeed weekend - certainly fell into that category after a qualifying session that featured a record six red flags and a race, won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, which saw then-title favourite and points leader Oscar Piastri crash out within six corners. The McLaren driver had also hit the wall in qualifying.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
