The Spanish Grand Prix has recently undergone a significant transformation, delighting drivers and fans alike with the decisive removal of its much-maligned final sector chicane. After 16 seasons of navigating a slow, awkward sequence of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has boldly reverted to its original, faster configuration: two sweeping right-handers that promise to enhance the spectacle and elevate the challenge. This strategic change, celebrated universally by drivers who openly voiced their dissatisfaction with the previous layout, underscores a growing desire within Formula 1 for circuits that prioritize exhilarating, high-speed racing and genuine overtaking opportunities.
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The successful campaign to rid Barcelona of its cumbersome chicane prompts a crucial question among motorsport enthusiasts and track design experts: if one of the F1 calendar’s most unpopular sections can be improved, which other corners or circuit segments are long overdue for similar, transformative treatment? Our team of RaceFans writers weighs in on the circuits they believe are most in need of a radical rethink, pinpointing the specific elements that detract from the racing and suggesting innovative solutions to restore their glory or enhance their competitive edge in the modern era of Formula 1.
Silverstone’s Botched Update and Missed Potential
While the Hungaroring often draws criticism for its sometimes-tedious sections, and Mexico City’s notorious opening corners frequently lead to collisions due to the dramatic transition from immense width to extreme narrowness, my focus for circuit improvement ultimately settles on the iconic Silverstone circuit. This historic venue, originally an airfield, saw its layout remain largely consistent and beloved from 1997 to 2009. Despite a somewhat unconventional final sector, it retained much of its character, featuring significant elevation changes and notoriously tricky corners that tested the mettle of every driver.
However, 2010 brought about a controversial and, in my opinion, largely ill-conceived redesign. The introduction of the Arena loop, at an astonishing cost of £25 million, did little to enhance the on-track action. The subsequent year saw the construction of “The Wing,” a new pit and paddock complex relocated to the straight after Club corner, further altering the circuit’s fundamental feel. These two significant changes regrettably stripped Silverstone of a considerable amount of its unique character, transforming it into a markedly different experience for both spectators and those working within the high-stakes world of Formula 1 and other top-tier series, which were compelled to adopt the new layout and facilities. Thankfully, European and national motorsport categories have continued to utilize the charming, old paddock facilities nestled between Woodcote and Copse, preserving a piece of its heritage, and club racers still enthusiastically embrace the National layout, which ingeniously transforms Maggotts into a hairpin leading onto the Wellington Straight.
Considering Silverstone’s origins as a largely flat airfield, the area where the Arena loop was built presents minimal topographical challenges for further modification. My proposal would involve a strategic alteration to Village, the third corner of the lap in F1 races and currently a right-hander. I suggest redesigning it to turn left, directly onto the Wellington Straight. This change would effectively bypass and eliminate the tediously slow ‘Loop’ and Aintree corners, reinstating a faster, more flowing section that would undoubtedly improve the racing spectacle and restore some of the high-speed thrills that Silverstone was once renowned for. Such a modification would reclaim lost character and better suit the demands of modern F1 machinery.
Ida Wood
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Monza’s Messy Rettifilo Chicane: A First Corner Folly
The blame for the ill-tempered and contentious collision between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, an incident that ratcheted the intensity of their championship duel far past boiling point, often falls on the drivers involved. Yet, I contend that neither Hamilton nor Verstappen was truly at fault, regardless of the stewards’ ultimate verdict. In fact, the true culprit responsible for the dramatic unfolding of that day was the anonymous individual or team who designed the abomination that is the Rettifilo chicane.
What more can be said about this profound failure of racetrack design that isn’t already abundantly obvious to anyone who has ever witnessed motorsport at Monza or navigated the iconic Italian track in virtually any racing simulation? The contemporary Rettifilo chicane is ludicrously tight, offensively slow, and unequivocally earns the dubious distinction of being the worst opening corner on any circuit currently featured on the F1 calendar. Its design forces drivers into an almost immediate, sharp deceleration from top speed, creating a funnel effect that severely limits racing lines and promotes chaos.
When drivers inevitably find themselves needing to bail out of the corner, they are presented with an unenviable choice: either slalom through a frustrating maze of polystyrene boards or clatter precariously over an ugly assortment of aggressive speed bumps and ‘sausage’ kerbs. The preceding double-chicane design, while perhaps not the ultimate overtaking opportunity due to requiring less braking than the current iteration, was, by any honest assessment, significantly superior to the problematic layout we currently endure. It offered a more graceful entry and exit, allowing for slightly more nuanced racing without the inherent bottlenecks.
Adding to its woes, modern Formula 1 cars have considerably outgrown the narrow kink, rendering the prospect of two cars making it through the right and left sections side-by-side a near impossibility. This issue isn’t exclusive to F1; send any pack of eager and inexperienced junior series drivers – be it Formula 2, FIA F3, or Italian F4 – down to the Rettifilo to start a race, and the question is never if a crash will occur, but rather how many cars will be involved in the inevitable pile-up. The chicane effectively acts as an accident magnet, stifling competitive starts.
The definitive solution, whether it lies in simply making the chicane wider or shallower, or in embracing a completely new, modern approach akin to a bus stop-style chicane, is a question that only actual track design experts can and should answer with authority. However, the world of simracing has already provided what many consider to be the perfect, elegant solution: the ‘no chicane’ variant found in Gran Turismo and numerous other racing games. Imagine the thrill: just remove the chicane entirely and allow drivers to fly into Curva Grande with the breathtaking speed and courage that the heroes of old once commanded. This would restore a vital piece of Monza’s character and enhance its status as the ‘Temple of Speed’.
Will Wood
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Monaco’s Impossible Confines: The Jewel That Needs Polishing
When the discussion turns to Formula 1 circuits desperately needing improvement to deliver better racing, one need look no further than the most recent venue to host a Grand Prix: the Circuit de Monaco. Despite its unparalleled prestige and deeply embedded history, the Monte Carlo street circuit has consistently struggled to put on a truly compelling show in recent years. While the track has undergone various modifications throughout its long and storied existence, without some significant and potentially radical changes, its coveted place on the F1 calendar could genuinely be at risk.
Last year, the circuit organisers received a substantial wake-up call, prompting them to fight relentlessly to retain the “jewel in the F1 crown” on the global schedule. Eventually, common ground was found, and the race remained – but it carried the distinct feeling of a stark warning from Formula 1 management, urging a shake-up to invigorate the racing spectacle. The message was clear: tradition alone would not suffice; entertainment and competitive action were paramount.
Over the decades, some of Monaco’s changes have been quite significant. For instance, the harbour-side chicane, which was originally a fast left-right lane-change sequence until the 1980s, was modified to a safer solution following various fatal accidents. Tabac also underwent substantial modifications, being made tighter heading towards the Swimming Pool section, ostensibly to encourage closer racing – though its effectiveness remains a subject of debate. Conversely, some changes have been very minor, with sections like Mirabeau and the iconic Fairmont Hotel hairpin remaining largely untouched, save for subtle on-track logistical adjustments like kerbs to comply with the FIA’s evolving track safety terms and conditions.
Fundamentally, the pervasive problem with Monaco is the chronic lack of genuine overtaking opportunities during the race itself. This inherent limitation means that, more often than not, qualifying sessions prove to be far more thrilling and decisive than the Grand Prix itself. Speaking recently, driver Nyck de Vries offered a poignant comparison between racing a Formula 1 car and a Formula E car around the principality. His primary grievance, and the reason he believes F1 struggles so much in Monte Carlo, is the sheer size of modern F1 cars in stark contrast to Monaco’s famously narrow and unforgiving streets. With so few, if any, realistic overtaking zones, the race quickly descends into a stagnant procession, where strategic pit stops and safety car interventions become the primary determinants of outcome.
Various ideas have been floated to address this issue, including proposals to extend the circuit’s length and introduce additional DRS zones, which could potentially encourage more overtaking. However, even these suggestions would invariably require the track to be significantly widened in key areas to afford these large, modern F1 cars a genuine chance to fight side-by-side. While a single DRS zone on the main straight exists, it is clearly insufficient to deliver consistent action. Some significant structural changes to the track could genuinely help this historic “jewel” regain some of its lost lustre and competitive edge. The central challenge, as Red Bull’s Christian Horner acutely pointed out after a recent Sunday race, lies in the formidable task of finding room within the tiny principality to execute such ambitious modifications. Space is Monaco’s ultimate luxury, and its scarcity defines its constraints.
Claire Cottingham
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COTA’s Go-Slow No-No: Unnecessary Complexities at a Modern Classic
In recent years, several circuits on the F1 calendar have commendably improved or entirely removed some of their most poorly designed corners. A prime example is the truly dire Sochi Autodrom, which possessed barely a single corner worthy of the name. Its eventual demise was already underway even before F1 formally terminated its contract with the promoter last year. Similarly, Yas Marina, another of Hermann Tilke’s less celebrated creations, benefited immensely from a badly-needed reworking in 2021, which effectively expunged many of its tediously slow chicanes. I unequivocally believe those changes were for the better; indeed, I would have been in favour of even more extensive modifications. The revised, more flowing configuration of Albert Park in Melbourne, implemented since last year, also represents a significant and welcome improvement.
So, where does genuine room for improvement still exist on the current F1 calendar? A few clumsy chicanes persist, most notably the one that concludes a lap of the otherwise majestic Spa-Francorchamps. Admittedly, there’s not much physical space to insert a vastly superior solution there, but as Will argued concerning Monza’s Rettifilo, one can’t help but feel they could have devised something more elegant and less painfully slow. The Foro Sol complex in Mexico City offers another glaring example: if F1 is no longer able to race around the classic Peraltada, then at the very least, ensure the alternative provides a spectacular experience for the legions of fans gathered in the stadium section.
For me, chicanes of this nature can be begrudgingly tolerated if their sole purpose is to enable a classic venue to meet stringent modern safety standards, thereby allowing it to continue hosting Grands Prix. They represent a necessary evil, a compromise for preservation. What I find utterly infuriating, however, is when brand new circuits are designed from scratch, incorporating slow corner complexes that are demonstrably unnecessary and detract from the overall flow and excitement. These are not compromises but design flaws.
The particular sequence that persistently irritates me is located at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). I had the immense good fortune to drive this circuit in a McLaren MP4-12C a few years ago, and it is, without a doubt, a modern classic – an incredible piece of track design for the most part. But what, precisely, is the strategic or entertainment point of turns 13 to 15? One hairpin does not logically need to be followed by two more in quick succession. From an aerial perspective, it almost appears as if the track engineers simply acquired more asphalt than they needed and created a tight, convoluted little knot of corners purely to utilize all of it. This superfluous section fundamentally ruins the otherwise magnificent flow of the lap, disrupting the rhythm that builds through the preceding fast sections.
I genuinely do not believe corner sequences like this are exciting to spectate, nor do they offer a significant or engaging challenge to the drivers. I state this with some confidence, as it was the only point on the track where I felt I coped genuinely well, contrasting sharply with the daunting triple-right sequence that immediately follows it, or the sinuous, blind opening sector where I consistently struggled to even spot the apexes, let alone hit them perfectly. However, as I emphasize, COTA is an otherwise terrific circuit, only marginally spoiled by these few duff corners. It remains incomparably superior to the likes of the aforementioned Sochi or the defunct Valencia Street Circuit. And frankly, I don’t harbor particularly high hopes for this weekend’s new IndyCar venue in Detroit either, suggesting the challenge of perfect track design endures.
Keith Collantine
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