The European Grand Prix has disappeared from the 2017 Formula One calendar… but don’t worry, it’s still on the calendar. The event has been renamed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as the event organizers decide to ditch last year’s name.
The European Grand Prix was revived last season for the first time since the 2012 event held in Valencia. The 2016 event was held at the brand new Baku City Circuit, which weaved through the narrow streets of Baku, Azerbaijan. The event title was confusing for many fans, considering that Azerbaijan in actually located in Asia and in not even a member of the European Union, although they do plan to apply for membership in the future.
Arif Rahimov, the Executive Director of the Baku City Circuit, explained the reason for the name change:
“For our inaugural event, we wanted to position our country as a part of Europe, our race as a European one and also to showcase our European mentality to the world and demonstrate our country’s openness to foreign visitors who can easily visit and find comfort here. We now feel it is the right time to rename our race to the ‘Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix’. After last summer’s race, many F1 fans discovered that our society is closely linked to the European mentality but now we feel it is the right time to draw attention to the fact that the 2017 race is also set in Azerbaijan and will be named thereafter accordingly.”
In addition to the name change, the event organizers also pushed to change the date of the Grand Prix to avoid a clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which was a controversial topic in 2016. The event was pushed back an additional week from the originally planned date. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be held on the weekend of June 25.
