82 replies to this topic

[LolaB0860]

It's a theme that gets raised year after year by many. Well, is it? This time, only the most simplest of polls.

 

[RC127]

2012 was a great race so the track CAN produce a spectacle but this is very much the exception to the rule, let’s hope this can buck the trend and become the second exciting race in the circuit’s history

[PayasYouRace]

I feel like I should be voting "no", because at least it's been able to produce the occasional exciting moment, and the 2021 modifications make it a slightly better track, but then I'm struggling to pick one that's definitely worse.

 

It's not my least favourite circuit. That's Singapore by a long way.

[prty]

2021 was pretty good
🍿

[SteveHam]

How can you create a thread like this when Monaco is around.

[P123]

It's had it's moments- 2010, 2014, 2016, 2021... but due to it's position on the calendar rather than the good racing it provides.  It doesn't look like a bad track, on paper, also appears to be a very nice facility, but it all just reeks of rather staler than stale blandness.

 

The worst race of the year?  I think Monaco runs it close.  And Saudi probably beats it as the worst event.

[F1 Mike]

How can you create a thread like this when Monaco is around.

I get more excited about Monaco

[Ivanhoe]

Question is not only about the track, but about the GP. I just hate the event. No history, no atmosphere, just a race in the desert.

[LolaB0860]

The worst race of the year? I think Monaco runs it close. And Saudi probably beats it as the worst event.

Well, event or track or race itself, I'll let the voter decide what counts towards it. But I had the event primarily in mind.

Edited by LolaB0860, 23 November 2023 - 20:09.

[Diablobb81]

2021 gave AD at least another 10 years.

[Jordan199]

I wouldn't miss it if it disappeared, but it doesn't annoy me a much as Monaco.

 

It has it's moment occassionally, but it really shouldn't be the climax of the season. 

Edited by Jordan199, 23 November 2023 - 20:47.

[Anja]

I can't say it's clearly the worst for me. I think Mexico is easily worse in terms of the track itself and the fans are its only saving grace, so let's say it's a tie. The way Miami is going so far, it could join this prestigious fight.

Edited by Anja, 23 November 2023 - 20:27.

[pacificquay]

No, Jeddah and Miami should be binned first.

[Ruusperi]

Since Paul Ricard is no longer in the calendar, yes.

My enthusiasm level for Abu Dhabi is -100.

[MikeTekRacing]

No, Jeddah and Miami should be binned first.

Jeddah ha produced great racing. Miami has produced better rancing than Spa for instance…

[MikeTekRacing]

Question is not only about the track, but about the GP. I just hate the event. No history, no atmosphere, just a race in the desert.

There have been memorable races there:
Alonso stuck behind Petrov
Nico wanting to finish the race on track in 2015
Nico winning it in 2016
Probably the closest championship finish in 2021?

[DW46]

There have been memorable races there:
Alonso stuck behind Petrov
Nico wanting to finish the race on track in 2015
Nico winning it in 2016
Probably the closest championship finish in 2021?

2010 was a travesty, Alonso missing out on no.3 and the inspiration for DRS 😢

Nico was good that day (2014) I wonder if he’d have retired if the reliability issue went the other way.

16 was great.

21 . . . Can’t think of anything helpful to say so. . .

Interlagos or Suzuka for me should be final round for ol times sake.

Edited by DW46, 23 November 2023 - 22:10.

[messy]

Now Sochi is gone, yep. Crap. Zero atmosphere, horrible bland circuit with some nice shiny hotels, fireworks and stuff. 2021 takes away the “it has no history for title deciders” argument, so it’ll probably be finale for another decade before being replaced by another equally crap venue with a massive casino.

[Lennat]

Probably, it's a horrible track.

[JimmyClark]

For me, yes it is. Any exciting moment has generally been due to the title situation. 2012 has been the only interesting "normal" race.

It's an awful circuit to drive, it has no atmosphere, has no love amongst fans, and is a glorified car park for most of the lap.

If Paul Ricard was still on the calendar I might say that's the worst, but at least the French GP has history and a fanbase.

[JHSingo]

Not whilst Mexico City is still on the calendar.

[Hellenic tifosi]

Well, I guess it depends on what we mean by "nice track". I would say that a lot of factors come into play, for example:

History
Atmosphere
Surroundings (I mean, how can you not love Imola after seing the picture of an F1 car with a traditional country house in the background?)
Driving challenge
Suitability for close racing
Etc.

So, for example, after the 2021 modifications Abu Dhabi might score higher on the "racing" side of things, but it's still hopeless when it comes to history, driving challenge, etc.

Monaco, for example, might not facilitate overtaking, but ticks all other boxes. Suzuki is another example of a track that doesn't necessarily provide a good race, but I would still choose it over every Middle Eastern car park, Paul Ricard, etc.

[ANF]

Qatar and Bahrain are just as bad.
Saudi Arabia is worse.
China is worse.
Azerbaijan is worse.
When it comes to human rights.

Mexico is worse.
Miami is worse.
Shanghai is worse.
When it comes to track layout. (The 2021 modifications were really good.)

Abu Dhabi shouldn't be hosting the final round of the season though.

[Risil]

It's in the bottom quartile.

[917k]

I recall quite a bit of overtaking here, and re overtaking, so it’s not nearly as bad as some would suggest, racier than a few other circuits for sure. Maybe too few fights at the front cloud folks vision…

[MikeTekRacing]

Now Sochi is gone, yep. Crap. Zero atmosphere, horrible bland circuit with some nice shiny hotels, fireworks and stuff. 2021 takes away the “it has no history for title deciders” argument, so it’ll probably be finale for another decade before being replaced by another equally crap venue with a massive casino.

What do you mean?
vettel, lewis and nico all won titles here before max

[Disgrace]

I think the new layout has genuinely helped to lift it off the very bottom. It has more character than Qatar and Miami.

[Benchulo]

Abu Dhabi is not the worst track. But I wouldn't mind if it's gone from the calendar. Not the best place for the final race.
Singapore and Mexico I dislike their track layout more and Miami is the least I have liked as an event.

Edited by Benchulo, 24 November 2023 - 07:13.

[TauriJ]

They should just get a bulldozer and demolish it and build a new one.They have money to build at least 10 new tracks.

[TheFish]

I don't like it and never have. It's a fitting metaphor for modern F1 though, with it's focus on corporate money and entertaining the super rich rather than on an F1 event, but there's a number of races I'd rather we lose before Abu Dhabi.

 

Monaco, Miami, Jeddah are all worse. I wouldn't be sad if we never saw this place again, but it's not the worst, sadly.

[Hellenic tifosi]

They should just get a bulldozer and demolish it and build a new one.They have money to build at least 10 new tracks.

 

Or maybe just go racing at Mugello, Sepang, Istanbul, Hockenheim, Portimao, etc.

[BobbyRicky]

It aint no worse than Monaco, Silverstone or Hungaroring among others.

Edited by BobbyRicky, 24 November 2023 - 07:24.

[PayasYouRace]

It aint no worse than Monaco, Silverstone or Hungaroring among others.

Wow! One of the consistently best Grands Prix on the calendar.

[TauriJ]

Or maybe just go racing at Mugello, Sepang, Istanbul, Hockenheim, Portimao, etc.

They pay a lot of money so thats not an option. Just build a new Mugello, Hockenheim etc to desert 

[Hellenic tifosi]

They pay a lot of money so thats not an option. Just build a new Mugello, Hockenheim etc to desert 

 

Maybe also build a German forest around the new track. Or re-create the Tuscan landscape and medieval cities   

[BobbyRicky]

Wow! One of the consistently best Grands Prix on the calendar.

 

I disagree. Its a boring track that produces boring races unless Pirelli's randomly explode.

Edited by BobbyRicky, 24 November 2023 - 08:15.

[Beri]

Abu Dhabi, to me, has the same issue as with all those Middle Eastern Grands Prix; it is only on the calendar because of the vast amounts of money involved. 

Together with Bahrain they were the first two venues where one really understood that Formula One went there plainly because of the money. Ofcourse Formula One went to other venues too, like China and Malaysia, where they paid a lot too. But the aspect of money was not really an underlining factor there. At Abu Dhabi it was from the go. The Abu Dhabi circuit was constructed solely to get Formula One and it was constructed out of thin air. Well water actually, because it is on reclaimed land and did cost north of 1 billion US dollars to construct. This megalomania made Abu Dhabi stand on the back foot in my opinion already. Combine this with an extremely boring en sterile look and feel of the track, because the color scheme used all over is not very inspiring, the races who were sterile as well, and the fact that it can only house 60k of spectators and it mainly is also the show around it with all the fireworks and yada yada, all this combined made me biased after 5 years or so that this Grand Prix was a mistake. And to this day I still think it was a mistake to be here. Where Bahrain has won me over with truly good racing at a circuit which is a proper racing circuit, Abu Dhabi never took any doubt away.

 

So yes, to me Abu Dhabi is the worst of the worst and a monstrosity of which Formula One should be releaved from its horrors.

[IrvTheSwerve]

As much as I dislike AD, there are other rubbish circuits/events that fall around the same level or worse for me. Mexico, Miami, Qatar, arguably Saudi…so I voted ‘no’, as I would probably get rid of one of those before AD.

 

AD probably gets an inflated amount of criticism because it’s the final race of the season and most fans want something like Interlagos/Suzuka (or Adelaide!)…but the they’ve brought that upon themselves by paying a fee for the right to host the finale.

[MikeTekRacing]

Wow! One of the consistently best Grands Prix on the calendar.

Best at what? The restart last year was good
Seeing cars going fast in corners is great. Racing isn’t fantastic. It’s significantly worse than Jeddah for instance.

[MikeTekRacing]

As much as I dislike AD, there are other rubbish circuits/events that fall around the same level or worse for me. Mexico, Miami, Qatar, arguably Saudi…so I voted ‘no’, as I would probably get rid of one of those before AD.

AD probably gets an inflated amount of criticism because it’s the final race of the season and most fans want something like Interlagos/Suzuka (or Adelaide!)…but the they’ve brought that upon themselves by paying a fee for the right to host the finale.

Some fans don’t like F1 not going to “traditional” tracks.
Barcelona was sh!t for years but that was ok. I can’t remember the last time we got a great race at Spa.

Some tracks are fantastic for drivers and great to see cars pushing hard and punished - but they produce sh!t races

[Beri]

Best at what? The restart last year was good
Seeing cars going fast in corners is great. Racing isn’t fantastic. It’s significantly worse than Jeddah for instance.

 

Is it? Lets put this in perspective with the amount of overtakes per race in 2022. I know, good racing isnt based on overtakes. But it genuinely paints a picture on the action taking place. And lets be fair, many of us think good racing is having a gazillion overtakes per lap.

 

 

You will see that Jeddah and Silverstone do not differ that much.

[Alexis*27]

How can you create a thread like this when Monaco is around.

 

At least it's guaranteed for someone to clip the barrier at some point. And there are more chances of safety cars.

[Nemo1965]

I like the track. It is a bit like the more outrageous costumes of Lewis Hamilton: it is so much 'OUT' there, it becomes 'IN' there. Furthermore: for meagre talented sim-racers like myself it is a good track to practice if I have to test a new car or if I have not been racing for a while. The fast right-left-sweeper after the first corner teaches you to be decisive on turn-in, the first hairpin to be PATIENT ON THE THROTTLE, GODDAMNED! and in general... I like the merry-go-round at full throttle at 15, 16 with the tricky braking there...and in general all the braking points are easy to find! 

 

I dare to bet in forty years time, even the haters will have nostalgia for it. If only for 2010, 2021...

Edited by Nemo1965, 24 November 2023 - 09:27.

[Baddoer]

Yes. Pure evil. Defenition of all bad stuff available. Nuke it.

[messy]

What do you mean?
vettel, lewis and nico all won titles here before max

Iconic title deciders. I don't think any of those count.

[JimmyClark]

I dare to bet in forty years time, even the haters will have nostalgia for it. If only for 2010, 2021...

That will only happen if the calendar is full of worse tracks, which doesn't really bear thinking about...

[LolaB0860]

Can one have nostalgia for 2021...

[Beri]

Iconic title deciders. I don't think any of those count.

 

Nah Vettels first was iconic for all the wrong reasons that make this track such a tedious one to look at. Ferrari fugged up their strategy on Alonso by covering Webber. And Alonso as a result became stuck behind Petrov and thus handing Vettel the title.

[Amz964]

Kimi described the circuit well. The first few turns are quite good but the rest of it is s**t

The 2021 changes were an improvement though. It's not the worse track on the calendar but wouldn't miss it if it were to disappear.

[SenorSjon]

This is the kind of track that still is 'new' yet has F1 races for over a decade. I still don't like it.