Formula 1 launches its first three‑race sprint this season with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off a back‑to‑back trio of events that will run over three consecutive weekends. The Baku street race, unusually scheduled for Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday, was originally meant to stand alone, with the Singapore Grand Prix slated for two weeks later. However, the relocation of the Bahrain round to Malaysia in the intervening week has created an unprecedented stretch of three straight race weeks, a pattern that will be repeated twice more before the 2026 calendar closes.
What should fans and teams anticipate from the Azerbaijan‑Malaysia‑Singapore sequence, and how will it reshape the championship landscape that currently shows Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli holding a sizable advantage? Antonelli’s triumph in Madrid, secured by a well‑timed Virtual Safety Car that benefited him while hampering McLaren’s Lando Norris, was partly luck‑driven, yet the Italian driver was also enjoying a strong performance at the sport’s newest venue and was poised to exploit any opportunity.
That win marked Antonelli’s eighth victory in fourteen starts this year, leaving him in Baku with an 81‑point cushion at the summit of the Drivers’ Championship. After his lead over teammate George Russell narrowed to just 25 points at the British Grand Prix in early July, Antonelli has extended his margin at every subsequent meeting, now sitting at a season‑high advantage.
Russell remains the nearest challenger, but after finishing fifth in Madrid he fell more than three race‑win equivalents behind his teammate and has effectively conceded any realistic shot at the title. Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari had already signalled the end of his own championship hopes following the Monza round, and brake failures at the Madring confirmed his first retirement of the season, leaving him 101 points adrift. Fourth‑placed Norris, the grid’s other in‑form driver, saw his deficit swell to 106 points after a weekend in which the reigning champion missed out on what could have been a third win in four races.
All of the cards appear stacked in Antonelli’s favour, though the 20‑year‑old does not seem to feel the weight of expectation. He repeatedly tells the media that he is "not thinking about the championship," a mantra that team principal Toto Wolff believes is genuine and healthy for the young driver. Nevertheless, time is ticking for any rival hoping to mount a late‑season surge, especially as 83 points are on offer across this first triple‑header – 75 from the three main Grands Prix and an additional eight from the Singapore Sprint. If Antonelli can finish the Singapore weekend on October 11 with a lead equal to or greater than his current 81‑point advantage, the probability of him becoming the sport’s youngest world champion will become overwhelming, even with a maximum of six races (150 points) remaining.
The opening leg takes place on the Baku City Circuit, a high‑speed, wall‑lined street track that threads through Azerbaijan’s capital. The venue has a reputation for producing dramatic races, and last year’s edition lived up to that reputation: qualifying saw a record six red‑flag interruptions, and the race itself was won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after title‑favorite Oscar Piastri crashed out within the first six corners, having also hit a wall in qualifying. Antonelli, who finished fourth on his debut in Baku last season and earned an F2 podium the year before, will be keen to avoid those pitfalls. Mercedes, much like at Monza, are expected to be strong on the long straights, with lower down‑force setups playing to their engine power.
"Baku is completely different to Madrid – you have slow corners, massive straights and you run with less down‑force," former champion Nico Rosberg explained on The F1 Show podcast. "Engine power always favours Mercedes, we saw it in Monza, so I think they are the big favourite.
Max Verstappen was fast in Monza, so maybe he can surprise there too." The second stop moves the action to Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit, a venue that returned after a nine‑year hiatus and has long been a favourite among drivers for its sweeping layout. When F1 last visited Sepang, ten current drivers were on the grid, and the track has been revisited in junior series by the likes of Alex Albon and Liam Lawson.
Antonelli, Russell and Norris have only experienced Sepang in simulators, and even the most sophisticated virtual tools cannot fully replicate the searing heat and humidity that define a race weekend there. Those oppressive conditions will feel familiar to drivers heading next to Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit, which has already proven to be the most physically demanding race of the season. This year, however, Singapore introduces a new twist: the Sprint format will be used for the first time at this venue, marking the sixth and final Sprint weekend of the year. Sprint weekends compress the schedule, offering only a single practice session before qualifying and the short race, thereby increasing the chance of surprise results and punishing any early mistakes in car setup.
The ever‑present walls of Marina Bay will only amplify the challenge. As the season progresses, the development packages that leading teams bring to each event continue to reshuffle the competitive order.
McLaren, having made significant strides, will debut an updated MCL40 in Baku, hoping to improve on the disappointment of last year. Mercedes, meanwhile, plans to introduce a long‑awaited upgrade for the Malaysia round – the first substantial package since the Canadian Grand Prix in May – a move that could help them close the gap to Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, all of whom have been catching up with their own updates. Team principal Toto Wolff hinted at the potential impact of the Malaysian upgrade, saying, "We are bringing a solid upgrade in Malaysia, so we have to survive another race in Baku first. Sometimes the correlation between the road and the upgrade isn’t perfect, but we hope it puts us on par with the others." Mercedes also retains an ADUO power‑unit upgrade that could be deployed later in the season, possibly aligning with the race where Russell serves his expected engine‑grid penalty.
Ferrari and Red Bull are expected to bring fresh parts to the triple‑header as well, with Ferrari still showing flashes of brilliance but frequently stumbling, and Red Bull inching closer to a first win of the year with Verstappen. By the time the final three rounds arrive, the question will be whether Antonelli can still be chased realistically. With only 150 points left on the table, a dominant lead could render the title race a formality.
Yet the sport’s history reminds us that anything can happen when pressure mounts and weather, track conditions, or a single safety‑car intervention reshapes the order. The 2026 season continues to be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off on Saturday at midday.
Viewers can stream the action via NOW, with no long‑term contract required, allowing fans to follow the unfolding drama of this intense triple‑header and its implications for the championship battle.