10 replies to this topic

[PayasYouRace]

Some off season fun.

 

Excellent sim racer SouthPawRacer has done a (long) video where he sorts every WDC circuit into tiers.

 

 

Think you know better? Go to the Tiermeker link to make your own and share it with us.

[F1Frog]

I haven't watched his video yet, but I would say the god-tier tracks are:

 

Nurburgring (Nordschleife)

Monaco (all)

Spa-Francorchamps (all)

Monza (pre-1972)

Brands Hatch (all)

Silverstone (current)

Suzuka (all)

Interlagos (all)

Reims (all)

Rouen (all)

Clermont-Ferrand (all)

Zandvoort (all)

 

Then in the next category:

Ain-Diab

Bremgarten

Montjuic

Monza (post-1972)

Monsanto

Pescara

Osterreichring and Red Bull Ring

[Sterzo]

I wouldn't change much in your list, F1Frog, except perhaps to promote Pescara and demote definitely Rheims and possibly Silverstone into the second category. Is the "all" against Brands Hatch because of the realignment of Paddock and Dingle Dell?

[jonpollak]

Graham Hill bend as well.
I liked it much better before they ‘fixed’ it.
Jp

[F1Frog]

I wouldn't change much in your list, F1Frog, except perhaps to promote Pescara and demote definitely Rheims and possibly Silverstone into the second category. Is the "all" against Brands Hatch because of the realignment of Paddock and Dingle Dell?

It was just because there were two Brands Hatch on the tier list linked, but it is effectively the same track. And Reims produced some great races in 1953, 1961 but it is mainly there for the location. A beautiful track.

[PayasYouRace]

Many of the corners at Brands were realigned in 1976 to create runoff, as well as the bottom straight being moved outwards to make room for a larger paddock.

[PlatenGlass]

Good video, and some interesting placements. I was surprised to see Portimao in the S tier. To be honest, it barely registered with me when F1 raced there. Donington he seemed to put in the S tier based on the one race rather than the track, and I'm not sure it would have got that placement if we'd seen more races there. Dallas didn't get the same treatment despite a very memorable race!

[chdphd]

I enjoyed that. I pretty much agreed with most of his judgements

 

Portimao's hugely elevated position and thinking that the Österreichring and A1/Red Bull Ring are equivalent stand out as a bit weird.

 

He did well with the pronunciations apart from Reims.

Edited by chdphd, 02 December 2023 - 11:22.

[flatlandsman]

Silverstone would be nowhere on my list, its just a airfield lets be fair!

 

My list would include Spa, Nordschliefe, Suzuka, old Hockenhaim, old Monza with the quicker first chicane, modern Interlagos, Turkey I think is about the only new track in there, Adelaide the old original version not the rubbish now, Long Beach too maybe

[alexsab]

Here's my selection:-

 

TIER 1

Nurburgring Nordschleife

old Spa-Francorchamps 

Bremgarten

Rouen

Clermont-Ferrand

Montjuic Park

Monaco (all layouts)

Pescara

 

TIER 2

old 5 mile Interlagos (used for GPs in the 1973-80 period)

Osterreichring

Brands Hatch GP circuit

Monsanto Park

Mosport Park

Suzuka

modern Spa-Francorchamps

Watkins Glen (longer 1971-80 layout)

Mugello

Ain-Diab

old Kyalami (up to 1985)

old Zandvoort (especially before chicanes added on the back section)

Dijon (longer 1977-84 layout)

Silverstone (nearly all versions, for different reasons)

Mont Tremblant St Jovite

Riverside

 

TIER 3

Reims

pre-chicane Monza

modern Monza layouts (especially the mid-1970s to 1993 layout, with the old, faster, Lesmo 2)

Mexico City (1986-92 layout, NOT the current one)

Imola

Adelaide

Estoril (1985-93 layout)

current Interlagos

Portimao

old Hockenheim (not for driving challenge but for its uniqueness)

Long Beach (especially the original 1976-81 layout with the plunge down Linden Avenue and full Shoreline Drive blast)

Istanbul Park

 

 

Let's not forget some of the best non-F1 circuits:

 

TIER 1

old Brno road course (Masarykring) - a truly daunting epic!

Bathurst

Macau

 

TIER 2

Pau

Phillip Island

Le Mans (with and without Mulsanne chicanes)

Oulton Park

Goodwood (arguably the best airfield-derived circuit?)

 

 

And in North America (the Glen and Mosport are included above in my F1 choices):

 

TIER 1

Bridgehampton

old Laguna Seca (layout used from 1950s to 1987)

Road America (layout hasn't changed since this old favourite was built in 1955!)

Road Atlanta

 

TIER 2

Mid-Ohio

Sears Point

Lime Rock

Westwood (OK, this one was really only a club circuit, but quite a challenge! Shades of Cadwell Park...)

modern Laguna Seca

Barber Motorsports Park

 

Looking at my choices, you'll notice a strong preference for the classic public road circuits... Why is that? I think it's the combination of longer laps and the associated variety of corners/challenges; serious elevation changes and sometimes camber changes, blind corners etc; the jeopardy of needing to be super-precise with hard "track limits"; in many (though not all) cases beautiful surroundings and a real atmosphere and sense of place (not just an overgrown go-kart track laid out on a flat bit of land surrounded by shiny pit buildings and VIP suites).

 

The purpose-built venues which I rate highest are those that have/had as many of these characteristics as possible - Osterreichring, Brands Hatch and Suzuka are good examples, as are the North American circuits listed.

Edited by alexsab, 02 December 2023 - 14:27.

[PayasYouRace]

This is mine, for now.

 

 

I've not curated each tier in order of preference. They're just in alphabetical order.