VIDEO: First onboard of the Baku City Circuit

©BakuCityCircuit

The organisers of the Grand Prix of Europe in Azerbaijan have released a video of the first onboard lap of the Baku City Circuit.

The new circuit is 6.006km in length and features 20 turns, making in the second longest circuit on the F1 calendar behind Spa-Francorchamps. Young Azerbaijani driver Gulhuseyn Abdullayev took an old GP3 car around the street circuit which is being prepared for the inaugural race in just over two weeks time.

“Baku City Circuit consists of a combination of both slow and fast turns," Abdullayev said. "In general, this track has a very unique layout. Unlike other street tracks, Baku City Circuit has a sufficient width as well.

"Turns 8 -10 around Qosha Qala gates were particularly very interesting. I believe we will witness breath-taking moments during the race. In fact, driving through those turns is not easy at all. The track was free for now, and did not require much effort from me, but during the race when there will be racing cars and slow moving drivers around or any incidents it will present a serious driving challenge.

"I liked this track very much. If allowed, I would drive even a longer distance. In general, Baku City Circuit does not fall behind of other street circuits, I would say it even exceeds other street tracks. Therefore, I believe all Formula 1 drivers look forward to racing at this track soon and they will be delighted to drive at this circuit."

You can view the full onboard video below:

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.