Formula 1

European Grand Prix 2016 qualifying: Time, TV schedule and live stream

Lewis Hamilton is riding a two-race streak. Can his teammate or perhaps one of the Ferraris or Red Bulls break that streak?

by James Brady

Jun 18, 2016, 10:00 AM UTC

Dan Istitene/Getty Images

A new street circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan is the setting for this year’s Formula 1 European Grand Prix. This comes just a couple years after Formula 1 added a race in Sochi, Russia. The two countries are similar in their desires to present a more upscale, alluring front to the rest of the world, and adding a Formula 1 race is certainly one way to do it.

All eyes will be on the two Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, during Saturday’s qualifying session. Of course, plenty will also be looking at Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, especially after he pushed Hamilton so hard in the Canadian Grand Prix last week.

At that race Vettel, who had qualified in third behind a front row Mercedes lockout, took both cars in front of him around the first corner to gain the race lead. The lead didn’t hold though, especially as Mercedes managed to get Hamilton on a one-stop tire strategy that paid off with a race win. Rosberg, who had qualified in second, was pushed off by his teammate in the first turn and fell back into 10th.

Rosberg wound up finishing in fifth place for that race. Hamilton took first, with Vettel second and Valtteri Bottas giving Williams their first podium of the season in third. Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull finished down in seventh, a letdown after the Renault-powered car challenged the Mercedes in Monaco the week prior.

Still, Ricciardo’s young teammate, Max Verstappen, finished in fourth in Canada and many will be hoping that Ferrari and Red Bull can once again push Mercedes in both qualifying and on race day Sunday. Hamilton is now just nine points away from his teammate in the driver’s championship. Vettel and Ricciardo aren’t far behind, either.

It will be interesting to see who goes for it early in qualifying and who is more cautious given the lack of familiarity with the new 3.7-mile circuit. The street course features the longest straight of the season, and the first practice session saw crashes from Ricciardo and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.

Unfortunately, it also looks like Ferrari may have trouble pushing the pace in this race, as Vettel and teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished eighth and 13th in practice, respectively. Still, that was just practice, with qualifying set to begin on Saturday morning. The actual qualifying session will get underway at 9 a.m. ET, and will be broadcast on NBCSN. A live stream will also be available at NBC Sports.