96 replies to this topic

[D.M.N.]

There's quite a few racetracks to me that stand out as plain boring:

*A1-Ring (new version) - Hermann Tilke destroyed it. Thank god it got removed from the calendar.
*Aida - Hey, it's in the middle of nowhere! 1994 was a one state affair, 1995 saw Schumi claw back. In the two races, overtaking was very sparce.
*Barcelona - I don't really like the track, but I don't think that it's the tracks fault, there is overtaking opportunities, but the F1 teams do too much testing there IMO.
*Hungary - Pray for rain....
*Magny Cours - Booooooring.
*Monza - Most will disagree with me but the long straights bore me to death. Shortest race on the calendar, need I say more?

What do you think is the most boring race circuit in Grand Prix history?

[The Lonely]

In recent history it has to be Barcelona imo.

[Bernd Rosemeyer]

At the moment it's Barcelona for me.

[SeanValen]

To be fair Aida didn't get enough chances to showcase a great race.
And I'm sure Aida in 94 would of been better had Senna not been punted off at the start, even if his Williams wasn't all that in the beginning, at least we could of saw Senna and Schumacher on the podium once in 94, which we never did.


Every track eventually has a good dry race plus a great wet race

I thought Schumacher's 4 stopper at Magny Cours in 2004 was great to watch.
It's a short pitstop, it's a strategy track, but in the rain we got treated to that great 1999 race.

Hungary used to be awesome with older class of cars, remember Senna and Mansell in the late 80s. At least it was something with the older rules, it's not a racing track these days because the cars have grown too much, and the straight isn't long enough.. But Hungary at best was again treated to rain and we got that great 2006 race, but when it's not raining I guess Michael Schumacher's 1998 3 stop strategy, was a rare opportunity for just watching a driving genius do his stuff, but I guess the track is boring if you don't have Schumacher doing awesome flanker laps in the race or if it's not raining.

Monza is a legendary track, the 1998 race, with Schumacher passing Hakkinen in front of the tifosi, or Schumacher's 1996 pole there, Schumacher from the back in 2004 to 2nd place, I don't think the track is boring, but unless you got 2 cars up front, the situation for racing is dependent on rules and the what teams are competitive. A season needs a track with long straights, it's another challenge, the old hockenheim is gone, leaving Monza as a unique track to blast the engines. I think this track of cource has been effected with aero, there have been alright races here.

A1 Ring was actually quite interesting, it's small lap, but that's the advantage of it, how do you become special around a short track? It's a challenge, but you don't need one car running away from it, Schumacher's pitstop fire in 2003 created a situation where he had to do more, the 98 race was alright, 99 alright, 2000 was boring, because MS was taken out, and the mclarens ran with it. In 2001, we got Montoya 's obession with Schumacher, runing both their races, and changing the stigma of the race, that wasn't boring, what happens in a race can go different ways.,


But the track unlike other tracks haven't been round that long, we had 97/98/99/2000/01/02/03, that's not much compared to other tracks I think the 98/99/2001/2003 races were decent enough, and the mountains look great for scenery.


Barcelona
Well, this is a hard core f1 fan appreciation put up with it circuit, it's the track where we learn who has the best aero car and all that, we have to go back to 1996 when Schumacher won in the rain to find a momental moment, but to it's credit, it is a chalenging track, with different combinations of corners, the track is always changing, a challenge you appreciate through a drivers view.


Generally I think alot of these tracks since the changing of the rules have been complemented with Schumacher driving on them with strategy drives to impress, without impressive strategy drives, alot of the dry races in this era of f1 can seem boring, but that's my view anyway. Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher made alot of dry races quite interesting, with them seperated, were looking for the same with Kimi, Alonso and Hamilton, but it's few and far between, it's a tall order to ask for.

[noikeee]

I'd nominate Caesars Palace and Aida.

[pingu666]

monza is cool, u should watch world superbikes there, 2008 race 2 especialy

A1 ring was cool

barca and hungry arent that great to watch

magny cours has some nice viewing spots

aida was my favourite track in grand prix 2 (the game)

[Atreiu]

A1-Ring (new version) - the track might have been boring and unchallenging, but the racing wasn't. Every race there had some drama and action;
Aida - I really don't remember how those races went;
Barcelona - yes, it's boring to death. The changes made to the layout post 2002 had no effect whatsoever. Blame turbulence and spec engines, not the testing;
Hungary - not boring, IMO. It's trully technical and challenging. Okay, 2004 sucked, but it's usually okay;
Magny Cours - Yes. Boring and in the middle of nowhere;
Monza - Unique high speed track, I get my kicks watching them go so fast. It's okay in my book.



With these cars, all races can become huge borefests. Remember Silverstone 2006? My God, that was boring...

I really hope the 2009 spec cars are indeed better.

[kar]

Detroit, no question. Of the contemporary circuits I find Barcelona probably the most boring.

[snx843]

Lemans - Bugatti Circuit.

[scheivlak]

Caesar's Palace, and let's not forget Nivelles!

Currently: Barcelona.

[damon_hill_fan2007]

For me, its not just about track layout, also location, atmosphere plays a part...

For example, the layout of Monaco usually leads to processional races, but its Monaco, the glitx, glamour etc means that it would not make most peoples list of boring tracks

For me, Bahrain is the most dull of current grand prix - an un-inspiring layout in the middle of a desert, completely soul-less

[WHITE]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kar
[B]Detroit, no question. Of the contemporary circuits I find Barcelona probably the most boring.



I would add Jarama

[ensign14]

Original Zeltweg, the bumps were more challenging than the layout.

Honourable mention to Zolder.

[otoelpiloto]

it has to be barcelona for me, hope it'll change next year with new aero package though. the circuit has potential, speed-up challenging corners which hopefully will bring a positive effect on races from next year on,

indy and monza my 2nd and 3rd option, closely followed by hungary

[rhm]

You've missed out Shanghai. Pointless white-elephant of a facility with an unnecessarily dull circuit design purely to satisfy the gimmick that it makes a Chinese character in plan view. But then there's Hungary as well. It's a tough choice but I wouldn't miss either if they went from the calendar.

[potmotr]

For my money Bahrain and Shanghai are pointless, boring circuits without decent sequences.
Barcelona is dull has hell which is more the fault of the teams testing there non-stop.

[united]

Originally posted by D.M.N.
There's quite a few racetracks to me that stand out as plain boring:

*A1-Ring (new version) - Hermann Tilke destroyed it. Thank god it got removed from the calendar.
*Aida - Hey, it's in the middle of nowhere! 1994 was a one state affair, 1995 saw Schumi claw back. In the two races, overtaking was very sparce.
*Barcelona - I don't really like the track, but I don't think that it's the tracks fault, there is overtaking opportunities, but the F1 teams do too much testing there IMO.
*Hungary - Pray for rain....
*Magny Cours - Booooooring.
*Monza - Most will disagree with me but the long straights bore me to death. Shortest race on the calendar, need I say more?

What do you think is the most boring race circuit in Grand Prix history?

I loved A1. Straights with sharp turns always created some drama, the race was not boring at all.

[Atreiu]

We were very lucky it was wet at the two last Shanghai races. 2005 was boring as hell.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by united


I loved A1. Straights with sharp turns always created some drama, the race was not boring at all.

I agree. It looked great on TV and turn two, the sharp turn where Sato and Heidfeld crashed in 2002 was always a good overtaking opportunity. I think our perception of that track has been coloured by the old hacks who hated it because they loved the old 'Ring so much.

[Rob G]

Originally posted by ensign14
Original Zeltweg, the bumps were more challenging than the layout.

That's what I was going to say. Simply an L-shaped layout with no scenery, no character and no elevation changes apart from the bumps.

AVUS would have been a close second had it not been for that huge banked corner. So instead I'd probably give the nod to Phoenix with all its 90-degree corners.

[Risil]

Originally posted by ensign14
Original Zeltweg, the bumps were more challenging than the layout.

As opposed to the miles of rolling countryside constructed on the site of the former airfield, which housed the 'new' Zeltweg?;)

The Circuit de Catalunya had the misfortune to be introduced to Formula One just as the tide of aerodynamic development was making it irrelevant as a 'race' track.

New Kyalami, New Buenos Aires and Brasilia were a bit Steamboat Willie. And as for carpark circuits, along with Caesar's Palace I guess you could probably happily include the Brussels GP, situated around the 1958 World's Fair site ('neath the Atomium ), and dear old Valencia coming up this weekend. We had a near escape with Meadowlands, by the Giants Stadium, I believe, also.

[F1 Tor.]

I never really cared much for Hungary. I thought the A-1 ring was awesome with it's scenery and elevation changes. Turn two was great as you went up the hill(just ask Massa ;) )

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

The simplest layout ever used must be
AVUS.

Nivelles and Zeltweg were pretty bland and unpopular too.

TI Aida was far too small and slow for F1.

[noikeee]

I'm not sure why Nivelles was seen as that bad, the layout on paper seems quite challenging to me (even if it is flat/narrow/whatever - dunno as I haven't seen photos/videos of the event, neither raced it in any sim). Probably because at the time the calendar had tracks like the Nordschleiffe, old Kyalami, Clermont-Ferrand, the Osterreichring, Mosport, old Monza, Watkins Glen...

[scheivlak]

Originally posted by paranoik0
I'm not sure why Nivelles was seen as that bad, the layout on paper seems quite challenging to me (even if it is flat/narrow/whatever - dunno as I haven't seen photos/videos of the event, neither raced it in any sim). Probably because at the time the calendar had tracks like the Nordschleiffe, old Kyalami, Clermont-Ferrand, the Osterreichring, Mosport, old Monza, Watkins Glen...

as well as the fact that it replaced Spa.....

[Lewis Hamilton F1]

I thought Indianapolis wasn't that spectacular, pretty much a semi-circle with a few wiggly bits lol

[karlth]

Another vote for Barcelona.

On the other hand its location is a major plus for spectators.

[Rob]

Shanghai, and Barcelona in second place.

[Knot]

SPA. No history, small, slow track with no challenges and boring corners.

[SeanValen]

Originally posted by Knot
SPA. No history, small, slow track with no challenges and boring corners.

Very funny.

[pingu666]

i dont like spa so much now tbh, and actully the A1 had some quite challenging corners

[Juan Kerr]

Valencia

[primer]

Barcelona. Monaco.

[ViMaMo]

The TV coverage makes Monza boring. The sense of speed is lost, i wish they stopped zooming on cars.

[pingu666]

think that might be because its surprisingly narrow, but i loved the superbikes there, maybe get more of the impression of speed?

the omg shtoooooop first chicane, then the front wheel coming up sometimes, the curva grandah, cranked over and flat out..
exit of the lesmo's, with haga so close to the bike infront you cant see him, then the exit of ascari chicane, bikes shaking their heads with the front wheel 6" off the ground as the riders wring the max out of the bikes, and then the parabolica, the mother of all corners

[Oho]

Originally posted by primer
Barcelona. Monaco.

Monaco indeed though qualifying reconciles it a bit.

[SevenTwoSeven]

Originally posted by SeanValen



A1 Ring - the 98 race was alright, 99 alright, 2000 was boring, because MS was taken out, and the mclarens ran with it.

As much as i admired Schumacher for some of his driving, does this mean that when MS ran away and hid with most of the races 2000-2004 that they were boring? Or only the ones where MS got taken out and Mac ran away with it!!!

Anyway, i quite liked the new A1 ring, its an interesting track, with some challenging corners.

Never really liked phoenix from the early 1990's, but ive always enjoyed races at magny cours (even when MS wasnt gloriously flanking laps, doing 8 stoppers from 36th place on the grid and still winning )

So i guess i dont really have a 'most boring'!

Spa for me though is the best. Nothing on earth other than probably monza or going to the old nurburgring (which i havent, yet) or maybe Le Mans, has the atmosphere, the 'hairs on the back of the neck' type thing, thats probably unexplainable, as that place does. Even without cars running its soaked in history and atmosphere. Bizarre place!

[D.M.N.]

Originally posted by SevenTwoSeven
As much as i admired Schumacher for some of his driving, does this mean that when MS ran away and hid with most of the races 2000-2004 that they were boring?

You could say that about any driver that dominates a race.

[pgj]

Monaco.

[RacingMonk]

The pictures I've seen of Valencia so far seem to indicate some kind of Pheonix-esque faceless concrete walled jungle.

[Gecko]

Originally posted by RacingMonk
The pictures I've seen of Valencia so far seem to indicate some kind of Pheonix-esque faceless concrete walled jungle.

Indeed, I found any footage of it so far to be surprisingly dull. Flat with many copy-pasted sections. Hopefully the scenery around it will make for better viewing, and most importantly that it provides for fun races.

[Buttoneer]

I'd add Silverstone to the list of candidates because while individual drivers may shine there, and while this years wet race was full of thrills and spills, it's generally a non-overtaker too. The races can be very processional.

Barcelona I'm in two minds about because I think much of the problem is that the teams do so much testing there that the pecking order is pretty much sorted out before they get there. Is it the track itself or it is just that it's all worked out beforehand?

I'd have to say Indy is the one race that always leaves me cold, with its elevation-free track and forgettable corners only briefly relieved by the banking. Shame it's a European prime-time TV moment. Hardly a great advert for the sport.

[karlth]

Originally posted by Buttoneer
I'd add Silverstone to the list of candidates because while individual drivers may shine there, and while this years wet race was full of thrills and spills, it's generally a non-overtaker too. The races can be very processional.

Can be but Silverstone holds, if I remember correctly, the record for most overtaking moves in a dry race in modern F1. The 2003 race.

Barcelona I'm in two minds about because I think much of the problem is that the teams do so much testing there that the pecking order is pretty much sorted out before they get there. Is it the track itself or it is just that it's all worked out beforehand?

The corner layout is what does the circuit in, that and the fact that there is only one racing line on the circuit.

[Clatter]

Originally posted by Buttoneer
I'd have to say Indy is the one race that always leaves me cold, with its elevation-free track and forgettable corners only briefly relieved by the banking. Shame it's a European prime-time TV moment. Hardly a great advert for the sport.

Have to agree with this. Indy leaving the schedule was one I really havent missed.

[Ferrari shambles]

Fiorano

[Bluesmoke]

I hate Monaco and Mangy Corpse. Monaco looks great for the 1st 10 laps and after that the glitter is gone.

[primer]

Originally posted by Bluesmoke
Mangy Corpse

[SchuOz]

Originally posted by pgj
Monaco.

Agreed

[TecnoRacing]

Bahrain, China, New-Nring, New-Hockenheim...All very dull and featurless. Boring racing...boring to look at...

The people saying Monaco should stop being F1 fans...

Anyway, i quite liked the new A1 ring, its an interesting track, with some challenging corners

Agreed it was not bad at all...certainly not the old O-ring, but it always produced interesting races. There was some elavation change and the scenery was great...

[GNT4ME]

Shanghai has thrown up some very entertaining races IMO (2004 & 2006 come to mind)
So I don’t understand why it is on so many “dull race” lists, especially when Sepang goes unmentioned.
I am with most people here….Barcelona must top the list for the dullest track. Good job the City is such good fun!