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It has put Azerbaijan on the global sporting map and fueled tremendous economic growth.

This prudence is one of the reasons why Rahimov is one of the smartest operators in F1 and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is probably the sport’s best-run street race. He says that “if we can satisfy the above conditions, I believe we can host another great race with no significant negative impact on the ticket sales.” Transforming the streets into an F1 track costs an estimated $30 million annually so Rahimov doesn’t want to be left with the bill and nothing to show for it if the race is cancelled at the last minute. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix joined the F1 calendar in 2016 and snakes through the streets of downtown Baku against a backdrop of futuristic skyscrapers and a 12 th century fort.

“We have generally had an agreement with F1 that we will only confirm our date in the calendar once the threat of another cancellation is past,” he says.