The 10 weirdest tracks F1 has raced on

the inaccurately described almost oval bahrain outer circuit used for the 2020 sakia grand prix is one of the most unusual circuit configurations ever seen in formula one thanks to its ultra short lap time but it's far from the first strange circuit in world championship history the outer circuit is the third different version of bahrain f1 has raced on with the unpopular endurance configuration used for the 2010 race then quietly dropped here's our pick of the most unusual circuits used in formula one history some long forgotten some very familiar and there were plenty to choose from so let us know what we got right and wrong in the comments below and don't forget to hit subscribe for more from the race las vegas we became used to some unusual race names in the 2020 formula one season but nothing as extraordinary as the caesar's palace grand prix that was held in las vegas in 1981 and 82. and where was the track built in the parking lot of the famous caesars palace hotel of course the configuration had the feel of a car park as well shaped like a capital e and not popular with the drivers doubly so given the heat of the nevada desert there was the added ignominy of much of las vegas being completely baffled at this unfamiliar racing series blasting around a car park in the city fortunately it lasted only two years but remains one of the most curious venues ever to host grand prix racing dallas searing heat a bumpy track surface that fell apart branded a joke by several drivers the one and only dallas grand prix is not fondly remembered by formula one one of a spate of american city tracks that cropped up in this era following las vegas and preceding detroit and phoenix it was at least relatively quick for a street circuit and even drew a rare mistake out of alan prost worst of all it was clear that there were going to be big problems in the grand prix with a can-am race the day before tearing up the track surface emergency resurfacing didn't help and plenty of drivers were caught out by the track as it broke up on race day including frost f1 never returned to this most inappropriate of street circuits valencia with the teams working out of garages built in a fish market a swing bridge that was asphalted shut a backdrop of america's cup team bases and an urban setting that was a strange hybrid of street circuits and permanent course the valencia street circuit was a modern oddity f1 raced here five times from 2008 to 2012 with michael schumacher famously taking the only podium finish of his three-year comeback with mercedes at the final race the circuit was soon abandoned although fernando alonso's charging victory from 11th on the grid in a mediocre ferrari in the last race held there means this odd venue will at least be remembered for one great racing performance pescara any race where a driver could run out of fuel but rejoin the race having topped up at a trackside petrol station has to qualify as unusual that's exactly what cooper driver jack brabham did in a 1957 pescara grand prix the only time this 25.8 kilometer road course held a world championship race famous for hosting the high-profile copper a turbo races piscara was a late replacement on the 1957 world championship calendar after the belgian and dutch grand prix were cancelled due to high oil prices caused by the suez crisis the longest circuit ever to host a world championship race this was a throwback to the pioneering days of road racing 1994's circuit changes this is not one track but a group of four that have something in common in the wake of the death of earth and senna several circuits had to make changes for safety reasons some of these became permanent notably the addition of a hairpin at esteril where williams driver damon hill famously flipped after eddie irvin spun his jordan into him during practice in 1994 but it's the temporary changes that are the most memorable because they turned familiar circuits into unusual ones in spain drivers were confronted with a tyre stack chicane on the run out of campsite while in canada there was a curb chicane installed on the long back straight the most memorable was the installation of a chicane in the mighty o rouge with drivers dropping down to second gear for the left right flick before heading up the hill thankfully this was only used once indianapolis we're not talking about the indianapolis rovel used from 2001 to 2007 here although that is also unique in f1 history but instead the mighty brickyard itself forget the dubious claim that the bahrain outer circuit isn't almost oval because the world championship did race at the greatest oval of them all from 1950 to 1960. the indianapolis 500 was included on the calendar to justify the world championship tag even though there was minimal crossover of cars and competitors in fact no driver who scored points in those 11 races ever scored a point in a conventional grand prix although alberto askari did contest the 1952 race on his way to the world championship but to the frustration of statisticians those 11 races do count in the historical record which is why names like bill vukovich roger ward and johnny parsons are often listed as grand prix winners arvis blasting up one side of a motorway and down the other is nobody's idea of a great circuit configuration but that was exactly the type of track that hosted the 1959 german grand prix the historic harvest circuit an acronym for the german automobile traffic and training road hosted grand prix cars in the pre-war years when streamlined bodywork was often used with the longest version of the track an astonishing 19 kilometers the terrifyingly steep banking of the north turn was its trademark and was still there when the track was used in a shortened configuration in 1959 tony brooks won the race for vanual after taking pole position at an average speed of 237 kilometers per hour but tragedy overshadowed the event as french legend jean barra was killed in a crash in the sports car race that preceded the grand prix harvest remained in use for international motorsport well into the 1990s with the dtm and german formula 3 racing there regularly with a certain michael schumacher among those to win there nurburgring nordschleifer the green hell is the iconic road circuit 22.8 kilometers of the most challenging road course in the world it's scarcely credible that grand prix cars raced here until the last german grand prix on the nordschleifer in 1976 when nikki louder's accident proved it was no longer suitable for formula one cars thankfully it's still in use today for racing for other categories and in 2007 nick heidfeld drove a bmw sauber there in one of the most memorable f1 demos of recent times but it did get us wondering how fast would a modern f1 car be around the nord schleifer let us know what you think in the comments below and for a guide in 2018 the porsche 919 evo lmp1 car lapped the circuit in 5 minutes 19.55 seconds curiously this great natural road course was entirely man-made built as a proving ground and race circuit in the 1920s tree-lined undulating and fearsomely fast it was a work of design genius and some of the greatest feats in grand prix racing happened here juan manuel fangio's charged a win for maserati in 1957 and jackie stewart's dominance in the wet in 1968 are ranked among the very greatest victories at a circuit where triumph too often flirted with tragedy monster combination circuit the version of monza used for the italian grand prix four times from 1955 to 1961 really does deserve the description almost oval for this version of the legendary venue did use the fearsome monza banking it was a bizarre circuit configuration with the main straight split into two lanes by a row of cones to make this possible drivers started on the main straight and headed off around the normal pre-chicane version of monza so through curva grande round the lesmos through ascari and then the parabolica but then they drove up the right side of the main strait and turned into the steeply banked north curve following the oval track all the way round and through the south curve before rejoining the main straight to complete the lap fast and dangerous its final two appearances in 1960 and 61 were primarily motivated by a desire to help ferrari win and this version of the track was deemed too dangerous but the banking remains to this day although the only time you'll see modern cars on it is for photo shoots monaco familiarity can blind us to strangeness just because the monaco grand prix has been on the formula one calendar almost continuously since the world championship started in 1950 doesn't make it any less weird as a circuit at an event the idea of racing grand prix cars on this short narrow circuit on the cote d'azure is an incongruous and absurd one while a promoter to propose such an event as a new addition to the calendar today they would be laughed at when nelson pique likened monaco to riding a bicycle around his apartments he was not exaggerating this improbable race on a narrow strip of asphalt amid all the glitz and glamour of this opulent tax haven is a unique throwback to a lost era so what do you think of our choices we will be keeping an eye on the comments below to hear your views and if you enjoyed what you've just seen don't forget to give us a thumbs up you

Channel: THE RACE

Views: 2,900,124

Keywords: Formula 1, f1, formula one, Bahrain Outer, Bahrain Oval, F1 oval track, strange F1 tracks, weird F1 tracks, odd F1 tracks, bad F1 tracks, F1 history, F1 list, F1 Indy 500, F1 indianapolis, Monza banking, Italian GP, F1 countdown, F1 Nordschleife, The-Race.com, The Race, Edd Straw, @wearetherace

Id: iUJHVNagwxQ

Length: 10min 41sec (641 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 03 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Jamee999]

I agree with the comment that would have liked to see Clermont-Ferrand on the list. It was literally around the edge of an extinct volcano! It’s scary to drive on GP Legends, never mind in real life.

[u/jamespeng622]

The weirdest track for me is Sochi. Weird that it’s still on the calendar.