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Silverstone is one of the most historic tracks on the calendar - Shutterstock/Peter Powell
The Formula One calendar is ever expanding and has now reached 24 rounds, with certain longstanding venues at risk of being usurped by glamorous new locations. We last made this list in 2022 and after the addition of several new tracks since, the time feels right to have another go at ranking every track on the calendar.
This is not about the location of the track, the facilities or whether the country deserves to host a race. It is all about the circuit itself.
24. Miami International Autodrome, United States
Miami was the second United States race added to the F1 calendar after Circuit of the Americas. It is not unfair to say that its primary purpose is being ‘all about the show’. It is unfortunate for F1 fans that that ‘show’ is primarily focused off track.
Of course, a street circuit in downtown Miami – or along the beach? – would have been better, though clearly far too ambitious. As it is, we have to settle for a temporary track that runs around the parking lot of the Hard Rock Stadium. The drivers do not seem to like it and neither do most F1 fans.
23. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a useful track for teams because it has a variety of high, low and medium-speed corners. If your car is quick there, it will be quick almost anywhere, the theory goes.
Yet in its history, there have been few genuinely thrilling races and overtaking opportunities have hardly abounded in recent years. At least they have removed that ghastly chicane before the final corner. Not an awful driving track but it does not serve its primary purpose all that well. It is another matter whether it stays on the calendar or is replaced entirely by the Madrid Grand Prix as the only race in Spain.
22. Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne, Australia
It is welcome that Albert Park has returned as the opening race of the season in 2025 because outside of that – and the location – not much appeals about this parkland circuit. They have made a few minor alterations to the layout in recent years but even the addition of three DRS zones a few years back did not create the racing that Melbourne deserves.
21. Las Vegas Strip Circuit, United States
As with Miami, this one is all about the location. It is fair that where a race is held forms part of the equation for F1 but we are ranking the best tracks, not the best place to have a race. There have certainly been worse grand prix circuits in Las Vegas (the Caesars Palace car park, for one) and the two races have been entertaining, with unusual conditions. So perhaps it may move up the order over the years.
20. The Hungaroring, Hungary
A lot of the tracks in the lower reaches of the list are in (or near) some of the world’s greatest cities but (generally) do not produce thrilling races. The Hungaroring is another. Budapest is a fantastic city but this track does not quite live up to its billing.
Its label as “Monaco without the walls” is a little unfair and inaccurate these days, but the one place where changes of position happen is at the end of the pit straight, and with the aid of DRS. That is not a problem just for the Hungaroring, mind you. Only seven tracks have hosted more grands prix, which is something.
19. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City
There is a theme emerging. Mexico City is another fine place to have a race and this circuit is certainly not a terrible track like some ranked below it. Yet the flow of it is very strange. The baseball stadium complex is a sight to behold but does feel low-quality as well as low-speed. The races here are usually entertaining, though. The altitude at least adds something unusual to the mix, but you would struggle to see it really being missed were it to drop off the calendar.
18. Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
In my previous list in 2022 Monaco was in the top 10 with the caveat that it was there because it represents a unique challenge. It is undoubtedly the best qualifying session of the year, with so much at risk. Yet it is predictably the worst race because the modern cars are too big and carry too much downforce to make overtaking more than a remote possibility. It is arguably not fit for modern F1.
In 2022 I also posited that something needed to change and suggested a three-stop race. This year the FIA have made a significant change: a mandatory two-stop race.
17. Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
All street circuits are a compromise in one way or another. This is another one for the “great location but questionable track” category. I do not think anyone would want to see Singapore hauled off the calendar but it suffers the limitations that many city street circuits do.
In short, it is tight and twisty and presents few genuine overtaking chances. With the conditions (often hot and humid), a near two-hour race and those barriers in close, it is far from a cake walk for the drivers.
16. Lusail International Circuit, Qatar
This track does not immediately stand out as one particularly suited to F1. Indeed, it has held 21 MotoGP races but just three F1 grands prix. With the high-downforce beasts currently in use in F1, the series of medium and high-speed corners pose a challenge to drivers both physically and technically.
In 2023 several drivers vomited in their helmets – not helped by the high temperatures – and a three-stop race was mandated. Is it a thriller? No. Does it have character? Yes.
15. Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Saudi Arabia
When the Jeddah Corniche Circuit was unveiled a few years ago there were dissenting voices that said it was too dangerous. Indeed, Sergio Pérez described it as “pointlessly” so. Not much has changed since then.
There were several enormous high-speed crashes in those early days too and, on paper, the layout does seem almost insane. Yet somehow it works (or has done so far) and has produced quite a few thrillers in its time. I am not really sure it should be classified as a street circuit, either.
14. Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan
Since the Baku City Circuit was introduced in 2016, it has produced several chaotic races and several snore-fests. The signature corner is the tight and extremely narrow uphill right-hander through the city walls that presents a wonderful photo opportunity.
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Charles Leclerc navigating the signature corner on the Baku City Circuit - AFP /Natalia Kolesnikova
Perhaps the most notable section is the flat out run from turn 16 to 20 through to the start/finish line which is the longest full-throttle section in F1. It is breathtaking. Yet a lot of the other corners – 90 degree right or left-handers – are utterly forgettable.
13. Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
In my previous list, published in 2022, I ranked the Yas Marina circuit very near the bottom. It was a travesty that a track that produced such little action and drama held the final race of the season. Thankfully that has changed with the alterations made to the circuit a few years ago.
The biggest changes were the removal of a chicane on the run down to the first hairpin (which created an overtaking opportunity) and re-profiling several other corners later in the lap, which does likewise. They have been a success. I would rather have Suzuka or Interlagos as the season-ending race, but this Yas Marina is not the bore-fest that it was for so long.
12. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal
The track in Montreal is another that has suffered over the years as F1 cars have advanced with increasing amounts of downforce. The ‘wall of champions’ on the outside of the final chicane (so called because Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve crashed there in 1999) produces fewer incidents now because of how the cars approach the layout. A sprinkle of rain here can produce chaos, as we saw in 2024. Still a challenge.
11. Autódromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola
It was a pleasure to see Imola return to the calendar in 2020 and to see it feature on the calendar every year bar the one when floods led to its cancellation. Have the races there been all that thrilling, though, a bit of rain aside? I am not so sure. It is another old-school track that is a challenge for the drivers (and with a beautiful backdrop and undulating terrain) but overtaking comes at a premium.
10. Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands
There was a period in the early 2000s where all of F1’s new tracks (Sepang, Sakhir, Shanghai) were designed by Hermann Tilke and his associates and, as good as those circuits are individually, started to feel a little samey.
No disrespect to Hermann, but the addition of Zandvoort in 2021 was a welcome change. It was a track that first featured in the F1 world championship in 1952, although its current guise is vastly different from the version that Alberto Ascari won for Ferrari. Notable corners: the banking at turns one, three and the final turn as well as the high-speed dart through the sand dunes immediately after.
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The banking at Zandvoort is one of the track’s most notable features - Reuters/Stephanie Lecocq
9. Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
The Bahrain International Circuit has been on the calendar for more than two decades now, and has hosted more grands prix than Brands Hatch and Paul Ricard. It is firmly a part of the F1 landscape. As both a racing and driving track you have to say that is deserved.
True, there are not many genuinely high-speed corners and that is a slight mark against it. In recent years it has produced plenty of drama and its abrasive surface tends to lead to two-stop races and some strategic variation. The middle sector combines both technicality and excitement. The outer loop configuration in 2020 was not bad either, though the less said about the awful ‘endurance’ layout (used only once) the better.
8. Red Bull Ring, Austria
When it comes to scenic backdrops, nothing beats the Red Bull Ring. Stunning even on TV and better in real life, the Northern Styrian Alps make this a chocolate box of an F1 circuit. It is the shortest lap on the calendar by time but presents its challenges and overtaking areas, too, notably the super-steep run to the hairpin at turn three.
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The backdrop of the Styrian Alps make the Red Bull Ring one of the most scenic circuits on the calendar - Getty Images /Adam Pretty
There are some old-school run-off areas, too, on the outside of turns four and five. That is very good to see in this age of sanitised circuits. Track limits are less of an issue than they once were here, with the addition of a strip of gravel on the outside of the final corner.
7. Shanghai International Circuit, China
It is probably fair to say that, if the Shanghai International Circuit were to drop off the calendar, few tears would be shed. In fact, it did disappear off the calendar for three years and it felt like nobody much cared.
The Tilke-designed track, though, has features that exist nowhere else. The almost never-ending sequence of turns one to three is unique in F1. The long back straight presents a solid overtaking opportunity and there are a few other nice medium-speed touches out there. Not as good as Sepang was, but not too far off.
6. Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
This storied track is definitely not what it once was. It is still an exhilarating drive in these modern cars but the challenge has certainly been neutered. The combination of Eau Rouge/Raidillon demands drivers drive just flat out, apart perhaps from when they are carrying very high fuel.
There are, though, still plenty of tricky technical sections and some corners where you hold your breath watching an F1 car fully commit. The location in the heart of the Ardennes certainly aids the spectacle, as does the often unpredictable weather. A shame that it will not feature every year any more but the Belgian Grand Prix becoming biennial may help it recapture a sense of distinctiveness.
5. Autodromo Nazionale, Monza, Italy
I was torn over whether to put Monza this high in the new list. It is clearly an historic track that deserves to be on the calendar. Because of its unusual high-speed layout, it probably deserves to be in the top 10 here, too.
Other than the long run down to the first – and occasionally second – chicane, there are few overtaking opportunities. The final corner – once called Parabolica, but renamed after the late Michele Alboreto – as well as the two Lesmos corners are up there with the most historic on the calendar. The track is perhaps starting to lose its appeal slightly, though the presence of the Ferrari-adoring tifosi always brighten it up. Is there objectively a greater sight in F1 than a Ferrari driver on the top of the podium?
4. Suzuka International Racing Course, Japan
With Spa becoming less daunting, Suzuka has perhaps taken its place as the ultimate drivers’ circuit on the F1 calendar. In other words: a track where the person in the cockpit can really make a difference. Aside from a few changes to the final chicane and at Spoon Curve, the track remains largely as it was when it first hosted a grand prix in 1987.
The first couple of corners are a fearsome combination and then you get into the long, flowing, uphill esses section that is quite unlike any other section on the calendar. True, the fast left-hander at 130R is almost a non-event now, but track just comes to life when you see an F1 car around it.
3. Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos, Brazil
When I think of Interlagos I think of three things: big elevation changes, enormous yellow and green curbs and torrential rain. Again, another track that has not changed a great deal but one that continues to produce fantastic racing and gives the drivers a thrill throughout each of its 2.677 miles.
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The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is one of six sprint venues for the 2025 season - AP/Ettore Chiereguini
It does not look like it should produce an action-packed race but somehow it does, likely helped by those never-ending undulations. Its case is also helped by the fact it is usually at the end of the season, when a championship or two is on the line.
2. Circuit of the Americas, Austin, United States
For a long time, the United States was begging for a racing circuit that was worthy of inclusion on the F1 calendar. In 2012 It finally found one of the finest racing circuits in the world, just outside of Austin.
Some of the track takes nods from other famous corners (the esses section is similar to Silverstone’s) but there is enough character elsewhere to give the track its own personality. The short, sharp rise uphill to the turn-one hairpin is arguably the best opening corner in F1. Yes, there are other F1 tracks in America now but none of them is a patch on this.
1. Silverstone, United Kingdom
A rare example of an old-school track that remains as relevant as ever in modern F1. Silverstone has some of the best high-speed corners on the circuit, like the right-handers at Copse and Abbey. It also has some of the most fabled turns anywhere in the world, like the sequence at Maggots, Becketts and Chapel and Stowe.
Put them all together and it flows superbly, providing the drivers with a challenge of skill and bravery. Crucially, and that is what gives it top-ranking here, it almost without fail produces a thrilling race somewhere in the field and quite often at the very front. The venue’s history and the hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic fans that attend every year help, too.
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