F1 24 How To Be Faster At Baku (Azerbaijan Track Guide)

Baku is the first street circuit on the Formula 1 calendar since Monaco and Canada, and it effectively marks the end of the European stretch of the calendar. It is an extremely tricky circuit to master, and certainly isn’t one of my favourite tracks to drive in F1 24.

With that said, hooking up the perfect line through the tricky castle section can be incredibly rewarding and you can have some great battles through the first sector thanks to the long straights.

In this continuation of our F1 24 track guide series, I’m going to run you through an entire lap around Baku. I’ll look at the optimal points to brake, and the fastest racing line through each turn.

What is a good lap time around Baku in F1 24?

There are a total of 20 corners at the Baku street circuit, although some of those are attributed to the final few kinks, which aren’t really corners. This makes a complete lap of Baku one of the longer laps on the Formula 1 calendar.

The best time trial lap record is a 1:36.327, with a 1:38.232, putting you in the top 5% of sim racers. A decent lap around Baku in time trial mode in F1 24 is around a 1:41.000.

• Current time trial record: 1:36.327
• Top 5% lap time: 1:38.232
• Average lap time: 1:41.000

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Watch our Baku track guide video

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Azerbaijan track guide

Turns 1 & 2

Approaching the first corner at Baku will have you hitting speeds of around 350km/h which is just over 215mph. This means your braking into turn 1 is crucial if you want to make the corner.

Your braking point is just after the 150 meter board, and I like to use the lamp on the right of the circuit as a reference of when to hit the brake pedal. You should brake hard at full pressure while shifting down to third gear.

Use all of the concrete runoff to the right of the track while decelerating to minimise the corner angle. Then, turn in towards the apex just before the 50-meter distance board.

Try to carry as much speed as you can through the apex, just missing the inside kerb and keeping your eye firmly on the outside barrier on the exit. This can easily put you out of a race, so avoid this at all costs, while using some of the exit kerb.

Keep your car to the right of the track as turn 2 comes at you incredibly quickly. This time we’re looking for the blue and red road sign as our braking point, right around 70 meters from the apex. Again, brake at full pressure and shift down to third gear.

Turn in well before the start of the right hand kerb and trail off the brake pedal as you rotate your car. You’ll want to jump right over the apex kerb, just missing the inside barrier and start accelerating as soon as you reach the apex.

Expect some oversteer as the car settles after the kerb strike, so allow yourself some room on the outside to correct this slide. Then focus on maximising your acceleration as turn 3 is another great overtaking spot.

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Turns 3 & 4

It can be incredibly easy to miss the braking point at turn 3. Keep your eyes pinned on the reference boards to the right of the circuit and look for the 100 metre board as our braking spot.

Much like the first two corners, brake hard and downshift to third gear. Get as close as you can to the inside barrier, as the apex kerb is completely flat. Try to carry a lot of speed, as the corner exit is wider than you think, allowing you to use all of the track and then some while accelerating towards turn 4.

Quickly move to the left of the circuit and watch for the 50 metre brake marker on the far right of the track. Hit the brakes as this disappears off screen with a short stab on the brake pedal before turning in towards the apex.

Once again, you should be in third gear at the apex and try not to take too much kerb as its hard to find traction on the exit of turn 4. Use as little steering lock as you can get away with to minimise wheelspin when you feather the throttle pedal.

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Turns 5 & 6

Turns 5 and 6 are slow but very flowing. Move over to the right of the circuit in preparation for the left-hander and apply a short burst of brake pressure just before the 50-metre board. Turn in towards the apex just before the outside kerb starts, ensuring you miss the large kerb.

The inside kerb is flat so try and roll your car through the corner as close to the barrier as possible. Hug the corner all the way before applying a quick stab on the throttle pedal and quickly switching your steering towards the right hander. You shouldn’t need any additional brake pressure, instead, aim to hop over the inside apex kerb aggressively to minimise the corner angle.

Watch for any oversteer while accelerating out of turn 6 and continue hugging the left of the circuit.

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Turns 7 – 12

The braking point for turn 7 is around 75 metres and there aren’t many great reference points. Just keep your eye on the distance between the two brake markers. Downshift to third gear before quickly trailing off the brake pedal, and rotate in towards the corner just as the left hand barrier starts to curve away from the track.

This is an awkward corner, but your best route is to hop over the inside kerb while applying a fair bit of steering lock. Gradually accelerate and short shift if needed to keep the rear of the car compliant.

Turn 8 is possibly the most daunting around a whole lap of Baku. Start by positioning your car on the right of the circuit and braking at around 50% at the 60 metre mark. Turn in, aiming to hit the inside barrier, as you will always understeer just past it, and it will look like you’re about to hit the outside barrier.

Trust your racing line, just missing the inside barrier and the outer barrier on the exit. You can accelerate up the hill and get as close to the left hand wall as possible before applying the smallest amount of brake input and throwing your car through the right hander of turn 11.

Coast through the apex in fourth gear getting close to the inside Pirelli hoarding, and accelerate briefly. Lift off the throttle but don’t apply any brake input as you rotate in towards turn 12. You can cut the apex aggressively while applying around 50% throttle pressure.

There is a lot of run off, but keep one wheel on the white line to avoid an invalidated lap.

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Turns 13 – 15

Turns 13 and 14 are both flat left-handers, so follow the path of least resistance through these two corners. As you round turn 14, move to the right of the circuit and brake in a straight line just as the right hand kerb starts at 90 metres.

Drift over this kerb while braking and downshift to third gear. As you approach the outer black hoarding, start to trail off the brakes and turn in to the apex and prepare to fly.

You can be incredibly cheeky and cut this whole corner, although be careful of car damage if racing with simulation damage enabled. Fly over the apex and accelerate as soon as your car lands and keep some steering input applied to avoid hitting the barrier.

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Turns 16 – 20

The final real corner around Baku is turn 16, a medium-speed left-hander. Brake in a straight line on the far right of the circuit just after the 100-metre board and turn in right at 50 metres.

You don’t want to clip the inside kerb too aggressively as your exit is so important. Start accelerating right after the apex, and use some of the exit kerb if needed but avoid getting beached on it by going too far.

All that is left is to follow the path of least resistance through the kinks on the way towards the start line. The final right-hander of turn 19 is the trickiest, so watch the outside wall on the left to round out a complete lap of the Baku circuit.

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Recommended F1 24 Baku car setup

This circuit has a mixture of everything with a lot of peril, especially through the castle section. Your car setup is crucial for a balanced and stable drive, and you really must prioritise a medium downforce approach with a low rear wing to maximise your top speed.

This will make the rear of the car a little slippery in places, but too much rear downforce creates a lot of drag and that will penalise you a lot down the longest straight in Formula 1.

You can opt for a balanced differential setup, slightly increasing the engine braking for a more aggressive approach. Your suspension geometry should include camber all the way left and a minimal amount of front and rear toe.

For the suspension setup, softer anti-roll bars will help a lot with stability, with a stiffer setup being preferred for the fastest time trial laps. Use a standard brake setup with a round 56% brake bias, and minimise your front tyre pressure while keeping the rear pressures at maximum for the best temperature control during a race.

Check out our recommended Baku car setup for F1 24.

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Using Track Titan to analyse your laps

Much like our other track guide videos, I’ve used Track Titan to analyse this lap, and they provided the throttle and brake telemetry that you’ve seen in this video.

You can analyse your laps in F1 24 using Track Titan, and it can be used on the console and PC versions of the game.

I’ll leave a link in the description below to check out Track Titan, and they do have a free membership level to try it out.

We also have a discount code if you do wish to sign up, and that is SIMRACINGSETUP. This code will give you 50% off a Plus membership for three months. You can also use the code when signing up for a free membership to get unlimited laps for a month rather than the normal 50 laps.

➡️ Track Titan – https://www.tracktitan.io/
➡️ 50% Off Plus memberships with code – SIMRACINGSETUP
➡️ Unlimited 30 day trial – SIMRACINGSETUP

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