Baku welcomes summer date on 2016 calendar

Organisers of the inaugural grand prix in the Azerbaijan capital Baku have welcomed their summer race date on the 2016 calendar.

The Baku race, scheduled to take place on city streets in the former Soviet state, has controversially pushed the F1 schedule over its limit of 20 grands prix.

Race chief Arif Rahimov, however, is delighted with the July 17 date.

"From the beginning I asked Mr Ecclestone to give us a date in the summer," he is quoted by Russia’s Championat.

"Baku in July is usually 30 to 32 degrees, so very similar to what we saw in Hungary last weekend.

"From the very beginning," added the race CEO, "there was a lot of support on the part of Bernie Ecclestone.

"He was interested in the project, especially after his first visit to Baku in October last year. From his comments, I realised that he liked the city and made sure that we made the right decision to have the race in Baku," added Rahimov.