Top 10 F1 Race Tracks

In this post, we will be talking about the ten best F1 race tracks. So there won't be any street circuits, which we'll discuss in a different post. We will be ranking these circuits based on the following factors

• Historic importance
• Track layout
• Racing
• Events occurred

Considering all these points, all of these race tracks are very closely ranked and one edges the other very slightly. 

Here is a list of the top 10 circuits.

(Note:- All the track layout images have been sourced from the Wikipedia page of subsequent tracks) 

10. Bahrain Internation Circuit

Some people will find it interesting to see this track on the list. I do not understand why this circuit gets so much hate. Perhaps it might be a stereotype. Nonetheless, I feel like it's a very beautiful track with plenty of space for overtaking. Great racing has been evident from turn 1 to turn 4. Earlier there used to be daytime races on the track but now the races are held at night, which looks stunning to watch. Fernando Alonso got his first victory for Ferrari on this track in 2010. Battles between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in 2014 (🔗), Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in 2022 and 2023 and Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in 2023 prove that this circuit can be very entertaining to watch. Also, Sergio Perez got his first victory on this circuit in 2020 (with a slightly different layout). That race was itself very special since George Russel had replaced Lewis Hamilton for that particular race since he had COVID-19 and Sergio had to prove his worth since he was out of contract at the end of the year. But Mercedes's pitstop mayhap took the victory away from George which led to Sergio's amazing last-to-first race victory which led to Redbull giving him a contract! (🔗). We can't forget Romain Grosjean's deadly crash (🔗) which only god knows how he survived! This showed us how safe the F1 cars really are. It was the most miraculous but relieving moment for all the fans to see Romain get out of the burning fireball. A little fun fact, The 2005 Bahrain GP was the hottest race that happened in F1 with temperatures reaching 42.6°C

9. Istanbul Park

This track from Turkey is fast and wide. It's a high-speed track that's decently long too. All these things add up to great racing on the track. The 2020 Turkish GP (🔗) is one of my favourite races ever in F1. Many incidents happened on that day. It was the same race where Lewis Hamilton won his Seventh F1 title. Crash between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in 2010 (🔗) didn't help their relationship back then and the battle between Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton was the one to watch (🔗). overall a really great circuit and totally deserves this position.

8. Sepang Internation Circuit

Malaysian GP has always been one of the most entertaining races to watch. The track debuted in 1999 and said goodbye in 2017 but left us with quite a few memories in 19 years. Sebastian Vettel got his first win for Ferrari here in 2015. How can we forget about the multi-21 saga (🔗) between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber!. The 2001 Malaysian GP is one of the most bizarre races in the sport (🔗). Lewis Hamilton's DNF in 2016 (🔗) cost him the championship that year. The 2009 Malaysian GP was probably one of the wettest races ever in F1. Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez battled in 2012 where Perez narrowly missed out on his first victory in F1. Almost every Malaysian GP has been eventful and that's the reason why it's one of the most entertaining races in F1. It's sad to not see Malaysian GP on the current F1 calendar.

7. Imola

Imola an Italian track is also one of the oldest tracks in F1. It is active since 1963. The race on Monza was already called the Italian GP that's why the races on Imola were called the San Marino Grand Prix back then. The circuit consists of many medium-speed to low-speed corners. The circuit cannot be called wide considering the new generation cars aren't as small as they used to be. After an unfortunate misunderstanding, This was the track where Senna and Prost's relationship started to take a sour turn after the 1989 race. This is also the race track where Ayrton Senna last raced in his life. Senna lost his life in an unfortunate accident (🔗). That whole weekend was doomed from the start as Austrian racing driver Roland Ratzenberger had also lost his life the day before. The sad part is when Senna died, an Austrian flag was found in the car which Senna had planned to wave to show tribute to his fellow driver. Senna's death was the biggest event that happened in F1 ever. Since then, F1 has never been the same for its own good. It kind of started a revolution in F1 safety. Since Senna's death, there's only been 1 death in F1 of Jules Bianchi which we'll talk about later. 

6. Hockenheimring

Hockenheimring is one of the longest F1 tracks in F1. It is situated in Germany Hockenheim. The track consists of many types of corners from fast-speed corners to slow-speed corners. Turn 1 is especially fast and interesting to watch since you can visibly see the downforce doing its job. Even while playing games turn 1 feels challenging to maximize speed through the corner. You push the car just a little more than the limit and the car spins. You hold back a little then the lap time gets affected. You clip the apex too hard, and then you lose control of the car. You miss the apex then you go wide. In short, it's challenging (🔗). The track is adequately wide and has long straights followed by low and medium-speed corners that result in great racing. The 2019 German GP was a very chaotic wet race where many drivers crashed and Mercedes too were victims of the chaos, messing up the pitstops (🔗). The 2018 German GP was the start of the downfall of prime Sebastian Vettel when he crashed after bagging the pole position and leading most of the race (🔗). He was never the same after that race.

5. Monza

If you are a Tifosi then undoubtedly Monza is going to be first on your list. Monza is an Italian track and home track for Scuderia Ferrari. It's the oldest Formula One track. It's a high-speed track with multiple long straights and a few low-speed corners. That's the reason why the cars have a low-downforce setup for this track. Slipstream plays a crucial part in setting qualifying times and racing. In 2019 all the drivers except Carlos Sainz missed the last qualifying lap since all of them wanted to stay behind to get the slipstream (🔗). Turn 1 and 2 are the most challenging corners. You approach this corner at the top speed of the car before braking and you need to shed the speed to two digits while defending/overtaking someone. Sounds like a lot of talent isn't it? It is the dream of many drivers to race Ferrari and it is a dream of many Ferrari drivers to win for Ferrari in Monza. Charles Leclerc won the 2019 Italian GP in his first year of driving for Ferrari (🔗). In 2008 Sebastian Vettel won his first race while racing for Torro Rosso an Italian team and became the youngest driver (back then) to win a GP (🔗). Something similar happened in 2020 when Pierre Gasly won the Italian GP for the same team (🔗). How can we forget Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's crash at turn 1 in 2021 (🔗)?

4. Suzuka

Suzuka situated in Japan is the favourite circuit of many F1 drivers and fans. This track has the most variations of corners in its layout out of any track. It consists of almost all types of corners from fast-speed corners to slow-speed corners. When you drive on this track in any game you start to understand how challenging this race track is. You can feel the skills you need to manage steering, braking and applying throttle needs to be in coordination to get the corners right especially the sector 1. The track can't be said best for racing but over one lap it's fabulous! Fernando Alonso's unbelievable overtake on Michael Schumacher in 2005 (🔗), Senna and Prost's infamous, controversial and championship-deciding crashes in 1989 and 1990 (🔗), Michael Schumacher winning his first title for Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen's charge from the back of the field in 2005 are some of the top moments of Suzuka. One moment that nobody is proud of is the death of Jules Bianchi in the 2014 Japanese GP. (🔗) Jules was the God-Father of Charles Leclerc who died due to crashing into a rescue vehicle. Jules was a very talented driver and was in the spotlight for getting the Ferrari seat. 

3. Silverstone

In 2020 F1 celebrated the 70th anniversary of racing on Silverstone. The track based in Great has been right up for racing since 1950 the official first year of F1. The track is called "the birthplace of F1" and has been delivering great racing and moments for over 7 decades. The layout of the has evolved throughout history yet the challenge as well as the names of corners remains the same. Most of the corners on this track are high-speed. The track is wide too, which gives us scenes of high-speed exciting Battles. The Battles on this track are numerous from Nigel Mansell vs Nelson Piquet to Fernando Alonso vs Sebastian Vettel now to Leclerc vd Verstappen the legacy continues. Lewis Hamilton winning the 2020 British GP on 3 wheels was the peak moment for me (🔗). Max and Lewis's crash at Corpse in 2021 was the start of a not-so-healthy rivalry between the pair (🔗). Nonetheless, F1 continues to be racing at Silverstone and delivers the benchmark F1 races. 

2. Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

This circuit situated in Belgium is nothing less than legendary. It is the longest active F1 circuit with many high-speed corners. Eau Rouge and Raidillon are the two world-famous corners. Even if someone doesn't know them, they would easily recognise them. It's that legendary. These corners gave us great footage and some courageous overtaking manoeuvres such as Mark Webber overtaking Alonso in 2011, Pierre Gasly overtaking Sergio Perez (🔗), and Perez saving the crash in 2019 (🔗). As thrilling as it sounds, It also has a dark side of causing crashes. In 2019 an F2 driver Anthoine Hubert lost his life in a fatal crash (🔗). He happened to be Charle Leclerc and Pierre Gasly's childhood best friend. In 2021 Lando Norris crashed due to aquaplaning. Discussions have happened on changing these corners and making them more secure. All of these things and we haven't even passed Eau Rouge yet! There's a long straight followed after Eau Rouge, which is famous for Sebastian Vettel overtaking Lewis Hamilton in 2018, Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen battle in 2000 (🔗) and Kimi Raikkonen going full blast in smoke with zero visibility (🔗). I mean, there's so much to talk about that we can make separate posts just for that. Also just search for the 1998 Belgian GP (🔗) :)

1. Interlagos

Interlagos is undoubtedly the best circuit that F1 races on. You will see drivers racing with each other in almost every corner, every part of the Brazilian track. The track has many medium to low-speed corners. A long straight followed by turn 1 and turn 2 and then again a long straight gives an equal opportunity to both the drivers to fight, giving us some of the best racing to watch. Almost all the races that happen on this track are memorable. 2012 race where Vettel won the championship after almost wrecking the car in the first corner of the first lap (🔗). 2021 Hamilton vs Verstappen battle. Lewis' charge in the 2021 race (🔗), Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen pole positions in a Williams and a Haas respectively. Max Verstappen's wet weather masterclass in 2016 (🔗). Most importantly the 2008 championship incident that took away Felipe Massa's championship and gave it to Lewis Hamilton (🔗). There are many small incidents to talk about. Like Perez and Alonso's close finish in 2023 (🔗), Ocon and Verstappen's crash in 2018 (🔗), and Kimi accidentally going off the track and finding himself lost. This used to be a perfect race track for hosting the last race of the season. Truly an amazing track. 

That's it for this post. I have attached the links to the events too. Do let me know what you think of the post and also write your tier list of the best F1 tracks down in the comments.