Azerbaijan set to host F1 race in Baku in 2016

Azerbaijan is set to host a Formula One race in 2016.

Azeri officials say they have signed a contract with F1 to stage the Grand Prix of Europe in the capital city of Baku.

Sports Minister Azad Rahimov says ''our location at the crossroads of eastern Europe and western Asia is a new frontier for Formula One racing.''

He says the race will be held on a street circuit, with the city center and Caspian Sea as a backdrop.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, originally planned to host an F1 race next year, but Mexico has since been added to the 2015 calendar.

Russia is scheduled to hold its first F1 race this year in Sochi, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics.