Grand Prix Circuits

Adelaide

City circuit created for the Australian Grand Prix in 1985. Having fast corners and 1 km long straight. It was made up of public roads and a specialy constructed loop in the Victoria Park and racecourse grounds.

Ain Diab

The fast circuit of roads on the outskirts of Casablanca was the venue of the only Moroccan Grand Prix to be a championship race in 1958.

Aintree

This was an attempt to use Liverpool's horse racing course for motor racing. The British Grand Prix was first held there in 1955. The track was flat and as artificial as an airfield circuit with two reasonable straights, an infield loop and temporary pits. In the first of five British Grands Prix run at Aintree Stirling Moss headed a Mercedes team 1-2-3-4 in 1955 and also took over Brooks Vanwall to win in 1957 - the first all British win in a world championship Grand Prix. The last GP at Aintree was run in 1962.

Albert Park

The track in Melbourne is a street circuit, albeit one constructed around the roads of a public park in seaside district.The circuit is now one of the most successful Grand Prix in terms of attendance and financial return for the city. Its sequence of fast bends, punctuated by three tight corners demands a tricky aerodynamic compromise between straightline speed and downforce. Braking and traction are especially important here, though its smooth surface means that the tyre wear tends to be low. The first Grand Prix in Melbourne was in 1996.

Anderstorp

Flat airfield circuit in the forest of southern Sweden, was the setting for the Swedish Grand Prix from 1973 until 1978. It comprised a long straight and a infield section, bud despite the apparent simplicity of its laps plan it called for unusual car settings. Some atypical performances were achieved there, for example 1-2 placings for the six wheeled Tyrrell.

Barcelona

The Catalunya circuit hosted the first time the Spanish Grand Prix in 1991. Built on industrial wasteland north of the city. The circuit makes many conflicting demands of the cars. It has a long straight but this is immediately followed by sequence of fairly tight second and third-gear corners. Aerodynamic efficiency is therefore paramount here. The cars need fairly high wing settings to cope with the tighter corners, but those cars that can do this with minimum disadvantage on drag for the long straight are the ones that do best.

Brands Hatch

Varied corners, adverse cambers, gradients and dips where cars bottom mean that Brands Hatch was far remowed from some modern autodromes. The British Grand Prix was first run in 1964 and it became the alternate circuit with Silverstone until 1987.

Bremgarten

Most of the circuit ran through a forest on the outskirts of Berne, which led to problems in the wet, because of flickering light and shade in sunny conditions. It was made of fast bends with no real straights. Good facilities including a pits that was separated from the circuit itself.

Buenos Aires

In 1952 a new autodrome became the venue for the Argentine Grand Prix. Ascari in a Ferrari won the first championship race there and the great local driver Juan Manuel Fangio won the next four. The 1958 result was momentous as for the first time a rear engined car won a world championship race. Cooper-Climax, driven by Stirling Moss.

Clermont Ferrand

The track looped around two of the Auvergne foothills nowadays seems an improbable venue for the French Grand Prix, but the race was held on the narrow and sinuous circuit as recently as 1972. It boasted on straight, 1km climb up from the start-finish and the after gradients as steep as 10 percent, 51 varied corners. In places the ground alongside the track fell away sleeply, and elsewhere there were faces on the outside of some corners.

Dallas

The circuit in the grounds of Fair Park was contrived as a venue for the Grand Prix in western USA. It was a 16-corner street circuit which promised to be fast and interesting but turned out to be inadequete in most respect for the world championship race. The world championship event held on this track only once, in 1984. The winner was Keke Rosberg.

Detroit

The venue seems so right for a Grand Prix, but compliments about the Detroit street circuit have been hard to find since its inaugural race in 1984. Much of it is hemmed in with concrete, the are nummerous right-angle corners and short linking straights, and since some corners were slightly eased after the first race little possibility remains of further improvement within the layout. Lap speeds are very low, and that tends to show F1 in a poor light.

Dijon-Prenois

This hilly and sinuous circuit was an attractive alternate venue for the French Grand Prix, offering contrasts with fast and flat Paul Ricard. In Burgundy country, the track has a variety of fast and slow corners - a long curve leading into the climb up to the main straight is particulalry dramatic. The first world championship race at Dijon was run in 1974, but for the next races was the track extented. In 1982 was the circuit the venue for the Swiss Grand Prix, enjoying a one-year revival as a championship race.

Estoril

Has an advantage over some of the kind in not being flat. It was laid down on a plateau in the foothills few kilometres from seaside resort Estoril. It has one long straight past the pits, with a mix of tight corners and very fast bends in the linking section of its lap. Paddock and pits facilities are good, so is viewing from natural slopes as well as from stands. The first Portuguese Grand Prix was here held in 1984.

Hockenheim

Has been the venue of the German Grand Prix since 1977, though it hosted the event on one occasion before that, in 1970. For many years, it was the fastest track on the calendar, due to two very long passages, interrupted by chicanes, which ran through a wood featured no spectating areas and were linked by a stadium section where the pit lane is situated. For the 2002 race a new section of track cut out much of the length of the straights.

Hungaroring

The circuit was to be built in a valley outside of Budapest. The allocated land area was fairly small, the track had to turn in on itself several times. Consequently it is very tight, offering only 1-2 posible place for overtaking. In terms of the setup required of the cars, it needs maximum wing settings. For 2003, a new section of track was built in an effort to encourage more overtaking. The first winner on the Hungaroring was Nelson Piquet in 1986.

Imola

One of the few anti-clockwise circuits in the schedule, it was originally a fast track, but has been constantly slowed by additional chicanes. This has made it one of the toughest circuits for brakes. The last round of changes came in the wake of the tragic events of 1994 when Roland Ratzenberger was killed in qualifying and the following day died Ayrton Senna at the flat-out kink of Tamburello.

Interlagos

The first Grand Prix dates back to 1973. The track is packed into a small area located in the city of Sao Paulo but with different levels. Several very fast curves leading into start-finish line. Very demanding for cars as well as drivers. Unusually the Interlagos circuit runs anti-clockwise. The present circuit design dates back from 1990, when the original circuit was shortened.

Jacarepagua

The circuit outside Rio de Janeiro staged its first Brazil Grand Prix in 1978. It has the relief of a long straight, but otherwise features a number of long corners. It tends to be bumpy but facilities are good. It was renamed Autodromo Nelson Piquet.

Jerez

The circuit in south Spain completed in 1986, is set within a bowl in the hills. It is virtually flat, and with only one straight where top gear is briefly justified and a succession of generally slow to medium-fast corners it is physically demanding.

Kyalami

This circuit was the obvious venue for the South African Grand Prix since 1967 until 1985 and then on the new circuit in 1992-93. Originaly the start-finish line was on a long undulating straight which ended at the demanding Crowthorne corner. The track then dropped to a sweeping right, ran on to a flat-out a slower section. Facilities were rated highly.

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