The Baku City Circuit () is a motor racing street circuit located in Baku, Azerbaijan constructed near Baku Boulevard. A lap of the circuit is , making it the third-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar (after Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Jeddah Street Circuit). The inaugural Formula One race at the circuit was the 2016 European Grand Prix and its support events. A year later, in 2017, the circuit held the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The event is organised by Baku City Circuit Operation Company (). History Development In December 2013, Formula One President and CEO Bernie Ecclestone suggested that the race would be run in but later said that because the Korean Grand Prix organisers were in breach of contract, it would be moved to . However, in July 2014 it was announced that the race's debut would be delayed until 2016. Design The , anti-clockwise layout of the circuit was designed by circuit architect Hermann Tilke. The circuit starts adjacent to Azadliq Square, then loops around Government House before heading west along a straight to the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower. Here, the track has a narrow uphill traversal and then circles the Old City before opening up onto a stretch along Neftchilar Avenue back to the start line. The circuit was projected to be the fastest street circuit in the world, with a top speed close to and the second longest circuit on the current F1 calendar behind the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. The circuit's tight layout through urban parkland shares similarities with the Montjuïc circuit which hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in the 1970s. The 2016 GP2 race, which was in support of the 2016 European Grand Prix, saw 12 out of 22 drivers fail to finish. Valtteri Bottas set a new unofficial Formula 1 top speed record in qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix when Williams claimed to have data showing him reaching , eclipsing the previous record of set in 2005 by Juan Pablo Montoya for McLaren while testing at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Pirelli found that 90% of the rear tyres used in free practice for the 2016 Grand Prix had been cut by the bolts securing kerbs to the ground not being drilled into the ground far enough, while Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg expressed concern over the lack of run-off areas which would be dangerous in the