Street Tracks

[Coulthard Fan]

Opinions? I hate Monaco, Valencia and Singapore they are terrible tracks whos idea was it to put tracks on the calender where you cant overtake at all? Crazy! I couldnt care less about the area the boats the rockstars and the prada shops! F1 should be about excitement, overtaking, close racing with the 3 street tracks i have mentioned you just get boring follow the leader races!
To think spa is going to be once every 2 years and these 3 shocking tracks continue year after year!
Im with Mark Webber i hate street tracks no fun for the fans and just frustrate the drivers!

[gloomyDAY]

Opinions? I hate Monaco, Valencia and Singapore they are terrible tracks whos idea was it to put tracks on the calender where you cant overtake at all? Crazy! I couldnt care less about the area the boats the rockstars and the prada shops! F1 should be about excitement, overtaking, close racing with the 3 street tracks i have mentioned you just get boring follow the leader races!
To think spa is going to be once every 2 years and these 3 shocking tracks continue year after year!
Im with Mark Webber i hate street tracks no fun for the fans and just frustrate the drivers!WTF are you talking about? All 3 have been pretty good races this year.

[Coulthard Fan]

No they have been awful like every other year! Monaco was terrible so boring singapore was rubbish as well! Valencia was a slight improvement but was still terrible!

Why do we have these tracks on the calender when brilliant circuits like Istanbul, mangy cour and spa are getting binned
tracks where you cant overtake are just pointless no fun for fans or drivers!

Bernie needs to listen to the fans time to get rid of monaco and singapore! Just making a race at night and a race in a playboy paradise dosnt mean its any good for racing!!!

[fandango]

Apart from the difficulty understanding a post with such odd punctuation, I'm confused about what the point is. Some circuits are good, others not so good.

What's the big deal? There are now 20 races a year, so it's going to happen that some circuits don't appeal to everyone. Coffee cremes...

However, I can't stand Valencia :) (The circuit, that is, not the city itself)

[F1boat]

I like the street tracks in F1, they have a unique glamour. About the racing, Monaco was kinda boring, but Singapore and Valencia especially were thrilling.

[Mark]

Have to agree about Singapore and Valencia, the two worst circuits on the calendar. Cannot agree about Monaco I'm afraid, yes there has been some boring races, but also some very exciting ones, just like any other track. But you can't fault the magic of the place. Go there for a day trip - any F1 fan won't fail to be impressed.

[Knock-on]

What people fail to realise is that Street Tracks bring a different type of discipline for drivers to master. These are the best drivers in the world and I for one like to see a driver struggle with getting these machines around a more demanding circuit rather than the Tilke dromes that are as forgiving as a Playstation.

Singapore was personally very exciting but I can see why some people just want to see overtake move after overtake move with minimum strategy or penalty for mistake. However, I am quite happy watching a combination of tracks with different requirements and challenges. For me, Monaco I find boring but it's one race over a whole season so I can put up with it.

[AndyL]

About Monaco this criticism is justified, it is usually a comparatively dull race. But the venue is such a special one that it justifies its place in the calendar. If every track was the same, that would be truly dull!

Singapore on the other hand was a good race this year. Overtaking can't be that hard at Singapore, even flagging Felipe managed it - sideways ;)

[acescribe]

Street tracks are taking over in vogue for F1 now though.... The new venues such as New Jersey (which may, or may not happen - another story) and ones being spoken of such as Bangkok and maybe even London, you can see the pattern for the upcoming new ones.

Bring "the event" to the people, whether there is overtaking is maybe immaterial.

[Coulthard Fan]

Sorry for spelling and punctuation not my strong point! Like I have said before It's not about the setting it's about the track the fans dont get to hang out with the rich and famous in Monaco we just sit at home watching it on the telly so we dont care what it looks like! The track should be the main feature it should encourage overtaking and close battles! Monaco is an awful track your lucky to get about 4 overtakes a race! The drivers dont join F1 to sit at the back of a train of cars waiting for somebody to bin it in the wall! Face it guys the Aussies and Canadians know how to make street tracks Montreal and Albert park are amazing and you can actually have battles. The most exciting part of Singapore was the pitstops!

I would rather see tracks like Brno, Portimao, Kyalami and Slovakia ring on the calender then the 3 follow the leader races I have mentioned before!

[Rollo]

and just frustrate the drivers!

Good. We wouldn't want the poor dears who earn more money in a week more than most people do in a year to suffer the same sorts of road conditions as normal people would we.
Real motorists end up sat sitting in traffic doing 4mph regularly during the morning and evening peaks, so why can't these prima donnas?
Also, why wouldn't we want suspension and aero people challenged to deal with the same road conditions as Johnny McTrafficJam? If he has to drive on sometimes rubbish roads pocked with potholes, then why can't F1 designers think about it?

If motor racing is in part about improving the breed, then why not test cars in real world conditions; in places like... the real world?

[Tazio]

Opinions? F1 should be about excitementJudging by a previous post or two I believe you would have found any one of those races exciting (with the exception of Monaco, but tradition trumps all else in this case) if only one had "God Save The Queen" play for the winning pilot of any of the street course races this season. :D

[nigelred5]

Sorry for spelling and punctuation not my strong point! Like I have said before It's not about the setting it's about the track the fans dont get to hang out with the rich and famous in Monaco we just sit at home watching it on the telly so we dont care what it looks like! The track should be the main feature it should encourage overtaking and close battles! Monaco is an awful track your lucky to get about 4 overtakes a race! The drivers dont join F1 to sit at the back of a train of cars waiting for somebody to bin it in the wall! Face it guys the Aussies and Canadians know how to make street tracks Montreal and Albert park are amazing and you can actually have battles. The most exciting part of Singapore was the pitstops!

I would rather see tracks like Brno, Portimao, Kyalami and Slovakia ring on the calender then the 3 follow the leader races I have mentioned before!

I've always argued that Montreal and Albert park are not Street tracks. They are both semipermanent PARK tracks or temporary road courses. Hermanos Rodriguez in mexico city has elements of both, street, permanent road course. While both may use some city streets, the streets themselves have largely been rebuilt purposely for the race. Surfers is a true street course. Monaco is street course. Singapore had a lot of work done but it is largely a street course. How much of Spa is stil open to the public?
Bernie doesn't care about hte quality of hte racing. He cares about how much money he gets to milk from the promoter, how big is the party(I have always wondered if his little hotpants daughters have any influence in this), how luxurious HIS personal accomodations are when he graces the track with his presence.

He'll die someday...

[Coulthard Fan]

Rollo this is a race about trying to be the best not sitting on a queue on the M25!! How you can even compare them is beyond me!

[Coulthard Fan]

Even if my 3 countrymen did win dosnt change the fact the races are dull and processional!

[N. Jones]

I love Monaco. Without it F1 would be a bunch of purpose built tracks like every other racing series. Monaco is one of the legends like the INdianapolis 500 and the 24 hours of Le Mans. Without them racing would be poor indeed.

[Big Ben]

Monaco is great because the DRS BS doesn't work there. It's not infected.

[wedge]

Rollo this is a race about trying to be the best not sitting on a queue on the M25!! How you can even compare them is beyond me!

I would wholely agree with you regarding this year's race but winning Monaco is a huge accolade.

Michael Schumacher, Senna, Graham Hill...

Yes, its a glorified rally stage but the margin for error is very small and its a reason why drivers say Monaco is hugely rewarding.

Street circuits present a unique challenge, especially in the safety conscious, state of the art Tilke-era of circuits. Road imperfections are part of the challenge and the best drivers in the road should be looking to overcome them with their skill - not moan and ask for the perfect piece of asphalt.

Valencia does nothing for me. It is dull and featureless. Its just a track within a dock/industrial estate.

Singapore has become a grower. It's very American ie. lots of 90 degree corners but the night time, cityscape and the endurance-esque duration has made it deeply fascinating.

[zako85]

My view is that Hungary is the track with the most potential of being boring. I thought this year's street races were ok. It may be hard to overtake in Singapore, but this is a very demanding race track of the cars and pilot skills. A kind of an endurance race, which adds unpredictability and excitement.

[Big Ben]

IMO the street tracks could be improved... with more onboard action :)

[ShiftingGears]

I would wholely agree with you regarding this year's race but winning Monaco is a huge accolade.

Michael Schumacher, Senna, Graham Hill...

Yes, its a glorified rally stage but the margin for error is very small and its a reason why drivers say Monaco is hugely rewarding.


Indeed. Monaco is unlike any other track on the calendar. Watching drivers go flat out at Monaco is one of the best parts about grand prix racing.

[steveaki13]

Right then, get ready this could be a long one. :p

I think street tracks have there place, however if the USGPx2 happens it would be 4 and that might be stretching it, but I have always said that F1 needs every kind of track to make a F1 World Championship. Street circuits, high speed classics, modern overtaking circuits. They all have there place.

Now as for the circuits mentioned:

Monaco - I love Monte Carlo and would always have it on F1's calender (alebit pre 2003 layout), it has produced classics as well as dull races but the spectacle and challenge that Monaco provides are not seen anywhere else. No other track requires 100% concentration without fail for each and everylap. Even the straights at Monaco are curved.
Remember the races like 92, 96, 97, 02, 04, 05, 08 off the top of my head have been some of the best races i have watched around Monaco.
It is also the only track to have remained pretty much unchanged (execpt the removal of barriers at st. Devote and Swimming pool and straightening of Rascasse) for years and a place where the likes of Sewart, Hill, Senna, Prost, Schumacher & Hamilton can been compared. The ghosts of Senna echo round in the races of today.

Singapore - I have always liked Singapore, despite many not liking it. I feel it offers something epic and different, another real challenge. Its a bumpy street circuit in humid conditions for 2 hours testing the fitness and talent of the drivers. Also the night aspect makes it a stunning setting. I for one many not be able to afford to go to Singapore, but unlike DCfan saying who cares what the setting looks like, I find the setting in Singapore adds amazingly to the event.
I would definately keep it on the calender.

Valencia - This is tough. I originally liked the layout of the track and thought it had potential, but after 3 years of dull (really dull) races I came to the conclusion that Valencia was good fun to drive, but terrible for racing. However this years race was good. But if the introduce New Jersey next season I wouldn't mind Valencia being dropped.

Also I would rather see UAE, Bahrain & China go instead.

So I am afraid DCfan that I disagree as do most here it seems. So when you say that F1 should listen to the fans, maybe they are already by keeping them.

I was right it was a long one. Sorry peeps.

[nigelred5]

Right then, get ready this could be a long one. :p

I think street tracks have there place, however if the USGPx2 happens it would be 4 and that might be stretching it, but I have always said that F1 needs every kind of track to make a F1 World Championship. Street circuits, high speed classics, modern overtaking circuits. They all have there place.

Now as for the circuits mentioned:

Monaco - I love Monte Carlo and would always have it on F1's calender (alebit pre 2003 layout), it has produced classics as well as dull races but the spectacle and challenge that Monaco provides are not seen anywhere else. No other track requires 100% concentration without fail for each and everylap. Even the straights at Monaco are curved.
Remember the races like 92, 96, 97, 02, 04, 05, 08 off the top of my head have been some of the best races i have watched around Monaco.
It is also the only track to have remained pretty much unchanged (execpt the removal of barriers at st. Devote and Swimming pool and straightening of Rascasse) for years and a place where the likes of Sewart, Hill, Senna, Prost, Schumacher & Hamilton can been compared. The ghosts of Senna echo round in the races of today.

Singapore - I have always liked Singapore, despite many not liking it. I feel it offers something epic and different, another real challenge. Its a bumpy street circuit in humid conditions for 2 hours testing the fitness and talent of the drivers. Also the night aspect makes it a stunning setting. I for one many not be able to afford to go to Singapore, but unlike DCfan saying who cares what the setting looks like, I find the setting in Singapore adds amazingly to the event.
I would definately keep it on the calender.

Valencia - This is tough. I originally liked the layout of the track and thought it had potential, but after 3 years of dull (really dull) races I came to the conclusion that Valencia was good fun to drive, but terrible for racing. However this years race was good. But if the introduce New Jersey next season I wouldn't mind Valencia being dropped.

Also I would rather see UAE, Bahrain & China go instead.

So I am afraid DCfan that I disagree as do most here it seems. So when you say that F1 should listen to the fans, maybe they are already by keeping them.

I was right it was a long one. Sorry peeps.


Well, you only need to worried about TEh racing at VAlencia boring you every other year. They announced earlier this year Barcelona and Valencia will alternate hosting the Spanish GP.

[steveaki13]

Well, you only need to worried about TEh racing at VAlencia boring you every other year. They announced earlier this year Barcelona and Valencia will alternate hosting the Spanish GP.

Aha True. Thats something.

[Coulthard Fan]

Aha True. Thats something.

so what will be taking it's place?

This weekend a proper circuit where you can have a good old fashioned battle!!!!! Woooooooooop

[Coulthard Fan]

Indeed. Monaco is unlike any other track on the calendar. Watching drivers go flat out at Monaco is one of the best parts about grand prix racing.

but the thing is they can't go flat out at all

[wedge]

but the thing is they can't go flat out at all

Driving on the limit does not necessarily mean driving flat out

[heliocastroneves#3]

Street circuits are challenging for the drivers, I rather see them driving on those than on a boring tilkedrome tbh.

[Rollo]

but the thing is they can't go flat out at all

That is the thing, they can't go flat out at all. Other tracks like Monza already test that aspect of the cars where the majority of the lap is done at 100% throttle.


Rollo this is a race about trying to be the best not sitting on a queue on the M25!! How you can even compare them is beyond me!

Normal cars have to sit in queues on the M25. How can I compare them? Because ultimately, finding out where cars break improves the breed. If the cars actually did have to sit perfectly still for a while, they'd overheat; designers would be forced to invent more efficient ways of cooling the engines. As it is, they're only held stationary for short periods and they still smoke and fail.

To reiterate Wedge's comment, driving on the limit can also involve being forced to drive as extreme closeness, in conditions that you can't see very well. I've been on plenty on roads in the bush where you can't go any more than about 15mph because the roads are too narrow to even allow cars to pass each other in opposite directions. Equally it could apply to cramped car parks.

If you want to only see cars going flat out, watch the roundy roundy indy cars or drag racing. Drag racers go far faster than Formula One cars are even capable of.

[truefan72]

I like all 3 its a good change of pace

But Monaco is the least liked IMO. It is what it is though and is a strong part of the History. I do long for the day when it wil see some changes to increase overtaking. But I would not get rid of any. Valencia's biggest mistake was not taking advantage of the spectacular scenery and location it has to offer

[nigelred5]

so what will be taking it's place?

This weekend a proper circuit where you can have a good old fashioned battle!!!!! Woooooooooop

What will be taking the place of Valencia? Circuit de Catalunya.

Looking at hte track layout and having now driven the streets, I expect the New Jersey circuit to be very high speed.

[call_me_andrew]

Monaco is enjoyable because even when the racing is bad, it still looks like a nice place to sit and do nothing.

Valencia looks like a parking lot with a bridge.

[A FONDO]

a nice place to sit and do nothing
The true american dream :D

[kfzmeister]

I do long for the day when it (Monaco) wil see some changes to increase overtaking.

I can't see that ever happening.