With 24 rounds for 2024, this year’s Formula 1 calendar is the biggest in history with two more grands prix than last season.
Although there will be 30 races this year with six additional sprint races on top of the various grands prix on Sundays, that means that there will be 24 different circuits playing host to Formula 1 this season.This year’s calendar naturally includes some of the most celebrated race tracks in the world, such as Italy’s iconic Monza circuit – which has hosted more rounds of the world championship than any other venue – the extremely popular Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and even the world famous Monte Carlo street circuit. There are also plenty of circuits which joined the calendar in the 21st Century which have become staples of the calendar, including Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit or the Circuit of the Americas in the United States.
Some tracks seem to produce exciting racing action practically each and every time Formula 1 arrives at them, while it is fair to say that some circuits are more notorious than others for generating processional races.
Every circuit on the 2024 calendar has hosted at least one grand prix, with the Miami International Autodrome, Losail circuit in Qatar and the Las Vegas Strip Circuit the newest additions to the schedule. So with fans having seen a representative race at every venue on the 2024 calendar, it seems only fair to investigate which of the 24 tracks RaceFans readers would keep on the Formula 1 schedule if it was up to you.
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I say
Years ago, Bernie Ecclestone operated roughly on a basis of ‘one nation, one grand prix’. Only when it came to the United States would he be flexible on that general rule, with the ‘European Grand Prix’ moniker used to add second races in Germany or Spain when it was financially beneficial for the sport.
As there are so many races on the calendar, reverting back to that idea of one round per nation feels like a good means of trimming the fat off the schedule. With that in mind, let’s do away with the unremarkable Miami circuit and the Las Vegas Grand Prix and just keep the US Grand Prix at good ol’ COTA – as much because of the horrendous scheduling of the new Nevada race and the fact that the Austin circuit has at least a decade of history in the sport to stake its claim on the calendar.
Controversially, perhaps, that means Imola must go as well. Although the revised modern version of Imola is far superior to the one that produced processional races throughout the nineties and early 2000s, compared to Monza, there is no contest. Similarly, the changes to Yas Marina in 2021 were a definite improvement, but who among us would miss Abu Dhabi if it was dropped, with Interlagos hosting the season finale once again?
The Losail circuit feels like a longer, less interesting version of Sakhir, so the Bahrain track could remain on the calendar – but ideally following Albert Park as the season-opener. Other than that, the rest of the circuits could probably remain. Although, the rumours about the Circuit de Catalunya being replaced by a Madrid street circuit are not all too devastating to hear either…
You say
Of all the circuits on the calendar in 2024, which would you choose to keep on the schedule if it was up to you? Let us know in this weekend’s poll…
What 24 tracks on the 2024 F1 calendar would you choose to keep on the schedule?
- Yas Marina - Abu Dhabi (1%)
- Losail International Circuit - Qatar (1%)
- Las Vegas Strip Circuit - USA (1%)
- Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) - Brazil (6%)
- Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City) - Mexico (3%)
- Circuit of the Americas (Austin) - USA (6%)
- Marina Bay Street Circuit - Singapore (4%)
- Baku City Circuit - Azerbaijan (4%)
- Autodromo Nazionale Monza - Italy (6%)
- Zandvoort - Netherlands (4%)
- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - Belgium (7%)
- Hungaroring (Budapest) - Hungary (5%)
- Silverstone - Great Britain (6%)
- Red Bull Ring - Austria (6%)
- Circuit de Catalunya (Barcelona) - Spain (3%)
- Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal) - Canada (6%)
- Circuit de Monaco - Monaco (5%)
- Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola) - Italy (5%)
- Miami International Autodrome - USA (0%)
- Shanghai International Circuit - China (3%)
- Suzuka - Japan (7%)
- Albert Park (Melbourne) - Australia (6%)
- Jeddah Corniche Circuit - Saudi Arabia (1%)
- Sakhir International Circuit - Bahrain (3%)
Total Voters: 246
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Señor Sjon
21st January 2024, 9:49
Imola will be the San Marino GP again.
Most of the street tracks should go, way too many these days.
S
21st January 2024, 10:02
Goodbye Monaco – Formula E is for you now.
Imola can go too – far too twisty for modern cars (in just about every category) to put on an actual race unless it rains.
Hungary is almost always dull in F1 (again, unless it rains) so that can go too.
Spa is nothing to a modern F1 car – all the challenge is gone, and it should be be too.
Zandvoort is only on the calendar for one driver and his rabid fans. Not a racing circuit for anything bigger than an F3 car. Maybe FE should go there too.
Monza is the opposite of Monaco, but still suffers exactly the same from the modern F1 cars. Bye.
Mexico hasn’t put on a decent F1 race since it rejoined the F1 calendar.
And Abu Dhabi is only 2/3 of a race track plus a chunk of Monaco thrown in for the final sector.
Other than that, there’s not much wrong with where F1 is going – most of the problems are still the cars they are using, and their insatiable desire for more and more data to engineer out all the fun…
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
22nd January 2024, 8:21
Obviously you’ve never raced there. It is very much a driver’s favourite. Maybe you wanted to talk about action, or the lack thereof when it’s not raining. The track itself remains one of the best racing experience you can get.
S
22nd January 2024, 13:52
Obviously I didn’t say whether or not I’ve raced there – but for the record, no I haven’t raced there in a modern F1 car.
But it sure looks a lot less challenging than it used to be in older F1 cars, and even remains so in most other categories.
F1 isn’t all about where the F1 drivers want to go.
No, I didn’t mention the weather either, because it wasn’t the point I was making. But yes, it’s relatively unexciting in the dry – and usually red-flagged in the wet.
And finally – yes, I agree it’s a great circuit, especially for a driver. But not for current F1 cars.
Coventry Climax
23rd January 2024, 11:28
I have three suggestions / pieces of advice for you:
– Go do a track day at Spa, in a truly nimble and fast car. And no, simulation won’t do.
– Get a racing driver to drag you around for a lap or 2.
– Wear diapers.
S
23rd January 2024, 14:40
You assume that I haven’t raced at Spa in high-performance machinery….
Just because a circuit is a challenging and rewarding adrenaline rush to participate at in any race car doesn’t mean it’s good to watch modern F1 cars at. We all like to watch different things…
Anyway, the question wasn’t “Where would you like to drive a race car” – it was “Which circuits would you keep on the F1 calendar.”
I wouldn’t keep Spa on the modern F1 calendar.
As much as I like the Mount Panorama circuit I wouldn’t want the F1 championship there either, nor on the Nordshleife.
Modern F1 cars aren’t great to watch everywhere, no matter how good the circuit is.
Jungle
21st January 2024, 10:02
I’ll start with saying I’d like to see Turkey and Malaysia back, at the expense of a few street circuits of which it wouldn’t really matter which ones. And I guess I could include Monaco in that. The cars are way too big for it now. DC being stuck behind Jos Verstappen’s Arrows all those years ago….
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
21st January 2024, 10:19
It was Enrique Bernoldi, not Jos Verstappen.
Jungle
22nd January 2024, 10:09
Oh Benoldi was it? Fair enough.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
21st January 2024, 10:43
+1 for Turkey and Malaysia at the expense of Monaco.
Witan (@witan)
21st January 2024, 11:12
+1 for Turkey
Stephen Taylor
21st January 2024, 11:29
Wasn’t it Bernoldi DC was stuck behind?
Melbourne '96 (@melbourne-96)
21st January 2024, 16:55
I was there! It wasn’t Verstappen but Bernoldi I believe, his teammate. Every lap the crowd was chearing (except the McLaren fans) that DC was still behind! Great atmosphere, only racefans enjoying racing back in 2001.
Shimks (@shimks)
21st January 2024, 21:13
+1 for Turkey
Coventry Climax
23rd January 2024, 11:33
Mansell trying all available tricks yet staying stuck behind Senna lap after lap was quite entertaining though.
But ofcourse, that was also when defending was still allowed.
Kris
21st January 2024, 10:20
I’m not in favour of one race per country.
The US is huge so more than one makes sense but preferably at better tracks. Drop Vegas and Miami and go back to Indy.
Similarly Italy having 2 is fine as they’re both great tracks.
Drop Abu Dhabi as it’s always terrible. I’m not overly keen on Singapore either.
earthling (@34rthl1ng)
21st January 2024, 10:48
Well, Indy in F1 format was not that great also, and it hosted one on the most ridiculous F1 races in history
Moshambles (@moshambles)
22nd January 2024, 8:19
Indi was awful in my opinion and the layout is even slightly worse now than before. I’d certainly say goodbye to Miami but Vegas turned out pretty well and I like the highspeed nature of the circuit, but I think Baku and Vegas are enough of these type of circuits.
Coventry Climax
23rd January 2024, 11:41
I’m not in favour of two races on the same track over the same weekend.
As it’s a world championship, it would make sense to me to have races in more than a handful of countries, so instead of going to the US a couple of times per season, I’d rather see them spread out more and, e.g., also go to South Africa, Finland, Argentine, New Zealand etc.
Same as you though, preferably at decent tracks.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
21st January 2024, 10:37
I’ve gone Suzuka simply because it is a drivers favourite and usually provides a good weekends entertainment.
I prefer the classics like Spa, Monaco, Silverstone etc as much for their heritage and the emotions they inspire from everyone. Drivers – Fans – Pundits – Trolls etc etc ;)
All that said, Las Vegas was a big surprise to me on its debut last year, and I am interested to see if it demands the same constant attention over the race distance as it did then.
The one track – the only track – that I loath and detest is Paul Ricard.
Flat, Fake and Dull.
If Putin decides to launch all out nuclear Armageddon, then I hope he starts there.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
21st January 2024, 10:45
The blue paint swirls at Paul Ricard looks like migraine.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
23rd January 2024, 7:38
Never understood why anyone thought they looked attractive.
earthling (@34rthl1ng)
21st January 2024, 10:53
Watching the figures most people has voted just one track, but you can vote as many as you would like to keep (I voted 18). I would have expected great classic tracks like Spa and Suzuka to have > 90% of the vote but of course if people vote just one no track gets > 10%
HUHHII (@huhhii)
21st January 2024, 10:45
I would remove Yas Marina, Losail, Las Vegas, Hermanos Rodriguez, COTA, Marina Bay, Silverstone, Catalunya and Miami. In addition Monza and Imola should alternate as Italian GP hosts.
There are surprisingly many tracks to be cut off.
S
21st January 2024, 10:51
I forgot about Spain – indeed, that can go too.
But what’s wrong with Silverstone?
HUHHII (@huhhii)
22nd January 2024, 10:50
The new layout is awful with its 1st sector being the worst piece of tarmac in the entire calendar. If they could revert back to pre-2010 layout then it could stay.
S
22nd January 2024, 14:04
I’ll concur that I liked Silverstone more before the latest changes – but its still one of F1’s better circuits in every way.
Mal Ross (@malross)
22nd January 2024, 23:31
Surprised at that. I feel the first sector at Silverstone is a massive success, giving drivers enough room to play with lines through Village and The Loop to set up a run on the car in front as they head down the Wellington straight.
Jungle
21st January 2024, 11:34
I must admit I had to scroll back up to see which track was Losail. :)
But Silverstone? It’s in my top 3 and a lot of others I would expect, the track just flows. I’d of preferred the didn’t change the start/finish line but its still a fantastic track.
COTA too is a bit harsh has a very unique quality to it.
MichaelN
21st January 2024, 11:50
Does it? All its corners seem like lesser versions copied from better tracks, and it has a bunch of super-slow corners owing to that late 2000s idea that the only way to have passing was to have long straights and wide hairpins.
Less relevant to the drivers, but more so for viewers, COTA is also located in what seems more of a desert than Bahrain, and it has become increasingly like other US-tracks in that the surroundings have slowly turned into one giant carpark. If they’d bothered to plant some trees, it could have a very similar look to Monza, snaking through a park. Now it’s just dirt and tarmac all over.
Jungle
21st January 2024, 12:15
Hey what can I say I like the track. The unique quality was referring to the elevation change up to turn 1 and then down again through esses. Not quite eau rouge spectacular, but yeah a few trees here and there and a fake boat might pretty it up a bit. No palm trees in Monza.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
21st January 2024, 16:06
I’ve not been a fan of Silverstone since the 2010 redevelopment. The ‘flow’ you speak of was severely compromised by the new section, and of course they got rid of Bridge which was the best corner on the circuit. But obviously the UK needs a Grand Prix, and it’s probably better to have it at Silverstone rather than ruining one of the other major tracks trying to achieve FIA Grade 1 status.
Jungle
22nd January 2024, 10:39
Still one of my most favourite on board clips. Not the fastest lap of the day, but he’s making the car dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2ZsvLi0tII
Moshambles (@moshambles)
22nd January 2024, 9:07
COTA’s layout is pretty good but it suffers from the same issues as Paul Ricard (the endless sea of painted runoff) which robs it of much of it’s character. It’s far more trilling to see a car on the limit around a circuit like Suzuka, where exceeding track limits has consequences other than a lap time deletion.
uzsjgb (@uzsjgb)
21st January 2024, 11:06
If you ask this question in a forum like this you will get a lot of answers influenced by tradition. Does tradition make a boring racetrack viable for the majority of viewers? I have been watching F1 for over 40 years, but I am not a traditionalist. I love racing, that is why in polls like this my number one track is always Bahrain and I vote for Monza and Spa to be dropped.
Monza is an incredibly boring track, just straights with silly chicanes in between. Every year there are endless discussions about who was at fault when trying to pass at one of those silly chicanes. I don’t think that is enough to keep this track on the calendar.
Spa doesn’t provide any good racing either. Almost all overtakes are on the long straight with a small curve (Eau Rouge). The landscape is nice, but is that enough to keep this race on the calendar?
The most boring track is Barcelona, has been for years. I was very surprised that Imola got a permanent place on the calendar, I have no idea why.
RaceFans lets people vote how good a race was, check here: https://www.racefans.net/rate-the-race/circuit-ratings/ . Monza is at 14, Spa at 23, Suzuka at 24, Catalunya at 25. Looking at this data from 15 years, it is quite obvious which tracks the RaceFans readers like and do not like.
I could see F1 creating a traditional European GP, which rotates between these old traditional tracks. This would make room on the calendar and at the same time elevate these circuits and the long history of F1.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2024, 11:28
I voted for Sakhir, Jeddah, Albert Park, Suzuka, Shanghai, Imola, Montreal, Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Spa, Monza, Baku, Singapore, COTA, LV, Losail, & Yas Marina.
The Losail & Sakhir circuits share a centerline length at 5.419 km, so I don’t get the ‘longer’ reference, not to mention circling around the former takes less time via being outright faster.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
22nd January 2024, 6:17
Losail though? The 2023 race was I think the most boring F1 race I have ever seen in 30 + years. I nearly turned off half way through. Cannot see why anyone would keep this circuit. You’re entitled to your opinion though.
MichaelN
21st January 2024, 11:40
Most tracks are fine, and changing the cars will do more than chasing some illusive ‘perfect track’.
But of this list, I’d drop the Hungaroring, Mexico City, Imola, Zandvoort and Melbourne. They’re just not a great fit for modern F1 cars and never really have fun races (unless you count rain-induced shenanigans, but I’d still prefer rain-affected races on better tracks).
Would like to see Sepang, Istanbul and Magny-Cours back. I think the latter got a bad rap for being in a bit of no-mans land in the middle of France; the track is pretty cool and fast.
Jungle
21st January 2024, 12:04
Magny-Cours yes definitely another great track. Zandvoort and and Imola are stuck in bit of a time capsule. Hungaroring I used to loath until they increased the main straight which at least now encourages overtaking and further squabbling into turn 2. Melbourne has only had one race since a few modifications but the cars were outgrowing it. They run the race very late in the afternoon too.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
21st January 2024, 16:02
I was always quite fond of Magny-Cours when it was part of the calendar, but I suspect F1 cars would have outgrown it by now. Those high-speed chicanes would be easily flat out in a modern F1 car, for example.
anon
21st January 2024, 19:02
MichaelN, Magny Cours was disliked for quite a few reasons – the decision to relocate the race there was driven purely by French domestic politics, whilst the circuit itself was given the nickname of “Magny Bores” because it produced extremely processional races (hence why it was often one of the least popular circuits on the calendar amongst fans).
Jungle
21st January 2024, 11:46
Jeddah is speed like Vegas turned out to be which I love. But I think it is also dangerous….
MichaelN
21st January 2024, 11:53
Jeddah seems to have done a decent job opening up some of the viewing angles through the corner.
Still think T15 at Baku is the most dangerous corner in F1. The run-off is angled so that it works well for people missing their braking point and locking up, but an incident like Webber had in Singapore T1 where the brakes just fail is going to send whichever driver is unfortunate enough to be there heading almost directly into the barrier at a very problematic angle.
black (@black)
21st January 2024, 12:24
An F1 calendar should be diverse in terms of challenges, that means not only having the tracks that everyone loves (Silverstone, Spa, Suzuka, etc…), but also include some tracks that provide some variation and challenges to drivers and mechanics, even though some may hate them.
A balanced calendar should include outliers like flat-out Monza AND slow-but-technical Monaco, high-speed with fast corners Silverstone AND some mid-speed corner Tilkedrome (hopefully one of the good ones). I’d really like to throw an oval to that mix for the extra challenge, or like a part-oval track like the Indy, but that seems difficult at the moment…
Also it should really be global and not just add every year new races in USA and Middle East only! Ecclestone, for all his bad qualities, at least he made some sense with the ‘one race per country’ policy (minus some exceptions).
Personally I’d prefer 20 races max, not to oversaturate the calendar and try to have some kind of rotation over the years to free some spots and still include some classics (like form a group of 3 races, let’s say Portugal/Spain/France and skip one, every year, so year1 it’d be Portugal+Spain, year 2 Spain+France, year 3 Portugal+France, and so on…)
So based on that I’d keep the following 20:
Europe (fixed every year) : Monte Carlo, Silverstone, Spa, Monza, Spielberg
Europe (alternating) : Portimao / Barcelona / Magny Cours, Zandvoort / Hockenheim or Nurburgring / Budapest
Asia (fixed) : Suzuka, Singapore, Sakhir, Istanbul
Asia (alternating) : Shanghai / New Delhi / Sepang
Americas : Montreal, Austin, Sao Paulo
Oceania & Africa : Melbourne, Kyalami
F1 frog (@f1frog)
21st January 2024, 12:52
I really love Zandvoort, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, Suzuka and Interlagos. All should be undroppable.
But the one track that I think is the most undroppable of all is Monaco. Because it is something a bit different from every other track on the calendar. The one that is most thrilling to watch a top qualifying lap for, and where a great driver can make the most difference. The one that requires the most skill to keep out of the barriers for 78 laps. The one that requires the most skill to pull off an overtake, and where overtakes that happen are the most exciting. One where a change in the pecking order is more likely than most, albeit less so now with the equal engines. And a rare time that if someone a bit different pulls a lap out of the bag to take pole, it isn’t totally inevitable that a faster car will breeze past with DRS. So it also throws up totally different strategies to every other track on the grid. You wouldn’t want a whole calendar of Monaco-like tracks, but it feels ludicrous to me to suggest that it is better to have zero than to have one. Maybe we should just choose one track we like and race there every week?
And all this is before you even bring the history into the equation. It is pretty special to know these are the same streets that Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi had their great scrap on in 1933, over 90 years ago now but the track is almost the same. There are so many classic Monaco Grands Prix over the years, and I can recall the vast majority of Monaco races back to 1950, which would certainly not be the case with any other track.
1950 – Fangio wins, Farina spins out on a tidal wave which eliminates nine cars, Ascari takes a podium on Ferrari’s world championship debut.
1955 – Fangio retires from the lead, as does Moss, Ascari spins into the harbour and Trintignant wins.
1956 – Moss wins after Fangio makes a couple of errors but chases him down after taking over a teammate’s car.
1957 – Moss crashes out of the lead, takes out Hawthorn and Collins and Fangio wins.
1958 – Behra, Brooks, Moss and Hawthorn all retire while ahead of Trintignant who wins again.
1959 – Brabham wins after Moss retires from the lead.
1960 – Moss prevails from a scrap with Bonnier for the first win in a Lotus.
1961 – Moss defeats the Ferraris, led by Ginther, in his privateer Lotus in what was his greatest drive.
1962 – Bruce McLaren wins, Hill and Clark retire.
1963 – Clark spins out with gearbox failure and Hill wins.
1964 – Clark touches the wall, Gurney retires and Hill wins.
1965 – Hill goes down the escape road to avoid a backmarker, reverses out then hunts down the leaders to win.
1966 – Only four cars finish a race of attrition, Stewart wins.
1967 – Hulme wins as Bandini has a fatal accident while second.
1968 – Graham Hill wins again.
1969 – Stewart retires and Graham Hill wins his fifth Monaco Grand Prix.
1970 – Brabham leads until Rindt puts in his extraordinary final lap to force a mistake and go through to win.
1971 – A dominant win for Jackie Stewart.
1972 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise dominates in the wet, the most puzzling extraordinary performance ever.
1973 – I think Stewart wins and Cevert clips the wall.
1974 – Ronnie Peterson wins.
1975 – Niki Lauda wins.
1976 – Another Niki Lauda win, but I think this is one of his better drives.
1977 – Jody Scheckter wins?
1978 – John Watson retires from the lead and Patrick Depailler takes victory.
1979 – Another win for Jody Scheckter in Monaco, after being chased down by Clay Regazzoni.
1980 – Didier Pironi crashes out of the lead and Carlos Reutemann wins.
1981 – Piquet crashes under pressure from Jones, who then has a problem and Gilles Villeneuve sweeps through to win after the greatest ever qualifying lap.
1982 – The race that nobody wanted to win. Arnoux and Prost crash out of the lead, Patrese spins, Pironi and De Cesaris run out of fuel and Patrese recovers to win.
1983 – Keke Rosberg makes a brilliant start in the wet to lead and takes victory.
1984 – The race is stopped early due to the rain, so Prost wins as Senna and Bellof were hunting him down.
1985 – Alain Prost wins but Michele Alboreto finishes second after his greatest drive.
1986 – Prost wins again as the McLarens are the fastest cars, rarely in 1986.
1987 – Mansell retires from the lead and Senna wins.
1988 – Senna goes into a trance in qualifying, then dominates the race before binning it at Portier and Prost wins.
1989 – A dominant Senna victory.
1990 – Senna wins again from Alesi after Prost retires from second.
1991 – Another Senna victory.
1992 – Mansell is in control before a late stop puts him behind Senna, who defends brilliantly to win.
1993 – Another Senna win.
1994 – Michael Schumacher takes victory.
1995 – Don’t remember, but would guess that Schumacher wins?
1996 – The crazy race where Schumacher crashes after a great pole, Hill and Alesi retire from the lead and Olivier Panis wins.
1997 – Schumacher dominates the race after Williams fluff the tyre choice at the start.
1998 – Mika Hakkinen wins.
1999 – Schumacher leads a Ferrari 1-2.
2000 – I don’t remember, but think maybe Coulthard wins?
2001 – Schumacher wins after Coulthard is sent to the back of the grid.
2002 – Coulthard holds off Schumacher for a rare non-Ferrari win.
2003 – Juan Pablo Montoya takes victory.
2004 – Jarno Trulli holds off Jenson Button to win, Schumacher is hit by Montoya behind the safety car.
2005 – Kimi Raikkonen wins after a famous pole lap, ahead of the Williams pair.
2006 – Schumacher deliberately stops at Rascasse, so Alonso takes a win.
2007 – Alonso holds off Hamilton to win.
2008 – Hamilton hits the wall, then wins anyway.
2009 – Jenson Button wins.
2010 – Mark Webber wins, and Robert Kubica almost takes pole.
2011 – The race is red-flagged at the end, ruining a great finish with Vettel (1 stop) leading Alonso (2 stops) leading Button (3 stops).
2012 – Schumacher loses pole and Webber leads a train of cars home.
2013 – Rosberg takes victory, Hamilton loses second in the pits.
2014 – Rosberg wins again and Jules Bianchi finishes ninth for Marussia.
2015 – Mercedes pit Hamilton at the end under a safety car and cost him track position, so Rosberg wins.
2016 – Ricciardo takes pole but loses victory to Hamilton with a slow pitstop.
2017 – Raikkonen leads the first stint, then Vettel gets ahead in the pits and wins.
2018 – Ricciardo holds on for a victory despite his engine being down on power.
2019 – Hamilton holds off Verstappen on worn medium tyres.
2021 – Leclerc can’t start on pole due to a qualifying crash, Verstappen wins and Bottas’ tyre gets stuck.
2022 – Leclerc on pole after the Perez crash, but Red Bull get the strategy right on a drying track and Perez wins.
2023 – Verstappen wins as Alonso can’t quite capitalise on a late rainshower.
A little flex there from me that I know what happened in most of the Monaco races, but definitely couldn’t do that for any other track. Monaco is just a bit more special than the rest. It is the best track on the calendar in my opinion.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st January 2024, 14:01
I agree, maybe not the best track, but especially nowadays with drs being too strong and making passes too easy, it’s refreshing to have tracks like monaco, singapore or hungary, where it’s much harder to pass and qualifying actually becomes important.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
22nd January 2024, 6:19
+ 1
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st January 2024, 14:03
1993 schumacher was leading but had a mechanical problem, 1995 he indeed won, I think he had a different strategy compared to hill, 2000 he also had a problem (suspension), was on track to get a grand chelem until then, led the whole 2\3 of the race he got to drive in, indeed coulthard won after that.
Sir Frogulus
21st January 2024, 18:20
You sir have an amazing memory! I’m impressed you can recite this from memory.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
21st January 2024, 20:37
Thanks very much. I love the name, Sir Frogulus!
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
21st January 2024, 20:06
Thank you, that was a brilliant rundown and a pleasure to read :)
F1 frog (@f1frog)
21st January 2024, 20:37
Thank you, it’s nice of you to say so :)
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
21st January 2024, 12:58
I would keep quite many, so here goes in the order listed above but grouped by yes or no.
No:
Yas Marina, UAE
Losail, Qatar
Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico
Barcelona, Spain
Miami, USA
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Yes:
Las Vegas, USA
Interlagos, Sao Paolo
COTA, USA
Marina Bay, Singapore
Baku, Azerbaijan
Monza, Italy
Zandvoort, Netherlands
Spa, Belgium
Hungaroring, Hungary
Silverstone, Great Britain
Red Bull Ring, Austria
Montreal, Canada
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Imola, Italy
Shanghai, China
Suzuka, Japan
Albert Park, Australia
Sakhir, Bahrain
I base this off two things: Heritage or racing. Monaco is a poor race but a great qualifier, so it stays. Albert Park is a traditional opener, so it stays. Las Vegas or Sakhir lack heritage, but produce racing I enjoy, so they stay.
Conversely, many of the no-races produce poor racing such as Miami, Mexico, Barcelona, and Abu Dhabi. I also think Jeddah is not fit for F1, and Losail in Qatar is neat but there are so many countries in a small region hosting races.
I said Yes to 18 races, and to me that’s a perfectly good size for an F1 calendar.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
22nd January 2024, 6:21
I have an almost identical list other than I have 20 and I kept Spain and Yas Marina.
mmertens (@mmertens)
22nd January 2024, 16:39
I had exactly the same as you besides Jedda in the place of Las Vegas, as it’s more challenging to drive and different from the rest. Las Vegas is soulless.
Christiaan Lustig
21st January 2024, 13:34
Apart from circuits there should always be a clear link tot he pre-WWII Grandes Épreuves, which basically are the longest-held Grands Prix i.e. France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, and Monaco.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
22nd January 2024, 6:08
+ 1
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
21st January 2024, 13:35
Melbourme, China, Imola, Monaco, Catalunya, Monaco, Austria, Montreal, Silverstone, Hungary, Spa, Monza, COTA, Suzuka, Interlagos, Baku, Zandvoort.
Asd
21st January 2024, 13:57
GET RID OF:
Losail International Circuit – Qatar (1%)
Marina Bay Street Circuit – Singapore (4%)
Shanghai International Circuit – China (4%)
Sakhir International Circuit – Bahrain (3%)
Yas Marina – Abu Dhabi (1%)
Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia (1%)
Miami International Autodrome – USA (0%)
Red Bull Ring – Austria (5%) – replace with a better track
Hungaroring (Budapest) – Hungary (5%) – replace with a better track
Circuit de Catalunya (Barcelona) – Spain (3%) – replace with a better track
KEEP:
Las Vegas Strip Circuit – USA (1%)
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) – Brazil (6%)
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City) – Mexico (3%)
Circuit of the Americas (Austin) – USA (6%)
Baku City Circuit – Azerbaijan (4%)
Autodromo Nazionale Monza – Italy (6%)
Zandvoort – Netherlands (4%)
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps – Belgium (7%)
Silverstone – Great Britain (6%)
Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal) – Canada (6%)
Circuit de Monaco – Monaco (5%)
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola) – Italy (5%)
Suzuka – Japan (7%)
Albert Park (Melbourne) – Australia (6%)
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st January 2024, 14:06
Turns out the 5 I would drop are melbourne (not cause I don’t want a race in australia, but I want adelaide back), abu dhabi, qatar, spain, miami (very often nothing interesting happens).
Obviously tracks that are likely to get rain like suzuka, spa, zandvoort, interlagos and so on would always get to stay in my calendar, while several of those I dropped will never get rain, example the desert ones.
Maybe too harsh on abu dhabi, since the redesign there’s been some passes and repasses with the double drs zone.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st January 2024, 14:08
I’d also get turkey and russia back, turkey had a lot of rain and russia had a lot of boring races but an impressive one in 2021, was already great in the dry and then there was the chaos with the torrential rain in the last few laps.
RH
21st January 2024, 17:59
Every track is good with competition at the front. The more the merrier.
That said without competition there are certain tracks that are God awful such as Monaco Abu Dhabi Singapore Barcelona (pre chicane removal) Jeddah Baku (only good in chaos) Australia Monza even and so on.
I’ll basically have maybe a 15 race F1 series at best if it was only down to the track.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
21st January 2024, 18:28
Good grief – please get rid of the anachronism we refer to as Monaco. The worst track.
Maciek (@maciek)
21st January 2024, 18:41
Bring back Algarve!
Robert Williams (@weiliwen)
21st January 2024, 18:51
Drop all of the Gulf races. They have money but no heritage.
Mr A
21st January 2024, 20:14
Neither do the US races? So they would have to go too.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
21st January 2024, 19:31
I’m not a big fan of all three American races (Austin is just a pastiche of more famous racetracks and I don’t enjoy it that much), Mexico is a terrible track, and most of the Middle East bar Sakhir should go as well. I voted for no return of Shanghai, the venue was alway quite empty and soulless. Out of European races, Barcelona’s stay in the calendar has been long overdue (despite the track change) and Red Bull Ring is way too short, but Austria would be amazing if the old Osterreichring could be somehow reconstructed. From among the circuits we don’t currently have on the calendar, Fuji, Sepand, Mugello, Hockenheim and Kyalami would be nice additions.
Mr A
21st January 2024, 20:12
Contrary to some here I’d keep (and bin) a mix of old and new.
Keep:
Monza, Silverstone, Hungaroring, Melbourne, Marina Bay, Jeddah, Inter, Suzuka, Montreal, Monaco, Bahrain, Las Vegas.
Throw:
COTA, Miami, Losail, Yas Marina, China, Barcelona, Zandvoort.
Others I haven’t mentioned I’m not too bothered about.
I really don’t think we should have as many races in the US, I despise COTA as a circuit and I also hate Miami. Losail and Yas Marina are dreadful, but conversely I was impressed with Vegas and Jeddah. Spa has not had interesting races for years, same applies to Barcelona.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
22nd January 2024, 0:08
So I need to make 24 selections from the list of…. 24 ???
IMOLAFTW
22nd January 2024, 0:29
Get rid of all of them, go with these:
1. Nurburgring Nordschleife – Germany
2. Indianapolis – Oval – USA
3. Imola – Original Layout – Italy
4. Mount Panorama – Australia
5. Monza Original – Italy
6. Hockenheimring Original – Germany
7. Red Bull Ring Original – Austraia
8. Suzuka – Japan
9. Fuji Original – Japan
10. Kyalami Original – South Africa
11. TI Circuit AIDA – South Africa
12. Sao Paolo – Brazil
13. Inje Speedium – South Korea
14. Sepang – Malaysia
15. Istanbul Park – Turkey
16. Macau GP Circuit – Macau/China
17. Potrero de los Funes – Argentina
18. Goodwood Festival of Speed – United Kingdom
19. Le Mans 24 hours – France
20. Kimi Ring – Finland
MacLeod (@macleod)
22nd January 2024, 8:11
great selection but without Spa I can’t agree…..
Mr A
22nd January 2024, 0:43
Also, as a spin-off, here’s my ideal 24 if we have to have that many…
01: Albert Park – classic opener – gets an unwarranted amount of hate
02: Sakhir – old enough now to have history behind it
03: Jeddah – i like it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
04: Interlagos – let’s not imagine a world without it
05: Mugello – new home of the European GP
06: Road America – needs tarting up but it’ll be great
07: Montreal – the best NA circuit
08: Monaco – no arguments please
09: Baku – here to stay now surely
10: Istanbul – bring it back!!
11: Hungaroring – classic karting track according to Montoya
12: Silverstone – preferred old layout but new one is still good
13: Jerez – an actual track for racing unlike Catalunya
14: Nurburgring – great and weather prone!
15: Monza – temple of speed
16: Spa – needs – looking at, I guess, but we can’t let it go
17: Portimao – roller coaster!!!
18: Buddh – interesting track, bring it back!
19: Sepang – the ultimate Tilke drome
20: Marina Bay – love this place, newer layout was better
21: Jakarta – only fantasy one here, lets make a decent track
22: Las Vegas – I liked it also
23: Suzuka – iconic and unmissable
24: Adelaide – BuT iT’s a BiG CoUnTrY ThErE cAn bE 2 RaCes
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
22nd January 2024, 6:05
I voted for 19. I would add a GP in France to this list as it is the home of title of the sport. Magny Cours probably.
I removed Qatar(truly awful), Saudi Arabia, China, Mexico and Vegas. F1 does not need 4 races in the despotic regimes of the Middle East. Bahrain is the best circuit in the region.
I don’t see why the U.S. needs 3 races either. I kept CoA obviously, and Miami but don’t really like it much.
Sam
22nd January 2024, 6:17
I’d have Spa, Suzuka, Interlagos, Portimao, Sepang, Istanbul and Kyalami as untouchables.
I’d have Losail as the only middle east, Surfers Paradise as the only Australian, Daytona Road Course and an oval (Phoenix maybe) for the USA, Brno for Eastern Europe, which leaves four European courses to get to the magical number 16. No Monoco until we have smaller cars.
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
22nd January 2024, 9:15
Out of the current grid I would first drop 4 races:
Abu Dhabi
Qatar
Miami
Barcelona
20 races for a season seems like a nice amount. 24 is too much and you can see the teams and drivers were wiped out by the time they had got to Las Vegas.
stefano (@alfa145)
22nd January 2024, 16:23
get rid of the races held in human rights violating countries and we are on the good way. also, what a weird way to visualize the results.
Jockey Ewing
22nd January 2024, 16:56
I think the sample size is a bit too small for so many options, but it is a quite good ranking of the tracks already.
For example I like the Sakhir track the most from the Arab world, but I do not care too much about the other tracks in the Arab world. I think the Jeddah track is not just dangerous, but due to its being a characterless forest of fences, is hard to follow on TV, especially if there are proportionally too many close up, zoomed in footages.
I think there is some honesty in simpler track layouts, they often provide an amazing race, like the Red Bull Ring, or the one off appearance of the shorter layout of Sakhir. These are honest from the aspect, that these tracks are not living in a denial, they show what are these cars good at: acceleration, braking, straight line speed. Meanwhile the dirty air in medium speed sections will always be a problem to some extent, until a yet not invented game changer comes into existence, especially as they have not went further on with Brawn’s concept, but they have started to abolish it, via some quick-fixes.
So all in all, I like the global state, the results of the poll, almost my exact ranking of the tracks. It means, whit a pick one out of many type of voting, there could be bias/favoritism in the results, but instead it is a nice ranking. Maybe with the dirty air problem solved a bit, and with smaller and nimbler cars, there would be a lot of life for many not so wide, not so fast tracks.
RR
22nd January 2024, 18:18
Spa and Monza are the absolute must haves of F1. Then a long, crucial, list of additional circuits is not hard to compose.