Azerbaijan. It's a small country, next to Georgia and Armenia and north of Iran. F1 doesn't race there. But apparently, Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore have come together to bring F1 there in 2015. Or 2016. Or never. One of the three.Bernie Ecclestone told this to the always accurate and reputable Daily Mail (please read that sentence with the most sarcasm you've ever experienced. Seriously. Your tone over the "accurate and reputable" part should make Don Rickles seem serious), so take this with a gigantic grain of salt.
Apparently Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, the former Renault Team Principal who was ousted after that little cheating incident at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, are working together to bring a street race to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku in the next couple of years. It appears to be a lovely location on the Caspian Sea, so it has the picturesque part of F1 settings down.
Ecclestone is quoted as saying "we're going to Azerbaijan" and that they want to have a race in 2015, which might be too soon, but 2016 seems likely.
It could happen, Azerbaijan is oil rich and in an area of the world where F1 continues to expand. Plus, if the situation in Crimea continues to deteriorate, there is the chance that the upcoming 2015 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi could be cancelled, making an Azerbaijani race the first in the former USSR.
Still, don't hold your breath for this race to happen. Remember that F1 race in New Jersey that was happening in 2013? And then 2014? Yeah. That's not happening. I'll hold that view with the Azerbaijan race until cars are screaming around Baku.
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