Azerbaijan Grand Prix promoter Arif Rahimov is hoping to secure a return to June on the 2020 Formula 1 calendar.
The first two races on the streets of the capital in Baku enjoyed an early summer slot but was brought forward to April to accommodate the French Grand Prix last year.
Now guaranteed a future in F1 until 2023, Rahimov is hoping to push the event back to its original slot next year to coincide with a big sporting summer for the city.
“It’s a bit complicated for us, specifically for next year because we’re hosting the three group games and one quarter-final for the European football championship,” he explained on Thursday.
“And we [the Grand Prix] want to be in June as well, so we’re trying to figure out if there is a slot where we can fit in. We would want to move back to June.”
Asked the main reason for the desire to switch, the promoter added: “The weather is a bit more predictable, the build-up is easier, you have less winds, less rains. It’s warmer overall. But we’ll see.”
The main hurdle will be an already cluttered schedule in June, a month that also begins with the only long-distance summer trip to Montreal and last year saw the start of F1’s first ever triple-header which has been avoided in 2019.
“It’s good to have it to create this festival feeling for three weeks,” Rahimov said of combining the F1 race and the Euro 2020 games.
“I think given the logistical restrictions of Formula 1 we kind of have to stick to some guidelines to see whether we can actually make it happen.
“It’s not up to us, F1 has to sort out how they move things from one race to another and we are a flyaway race and traditionally there were no flyaways [in the summer].
“I don’t know if they are going to arrange something different for next year to help this happen,” he continued.
“But I think it’s time to start thinking about it, because if we are looking at 22-24 races on the calendar then you have to be prepared for all kinds of different scenarios.”