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.
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Posted 29 November 2023 - 18:52
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
Posted 29 November 2023 - 21:07
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?
Posted 29 November 2023 - 21:29
Posted 29 November 2023 - 21:56
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?
Posted 30 November 2023 - 13:29
Posted 01 December 2023 - 16:49
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!
Posted 02 December 2023 - 01:56
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.
Posted 02 December 2023 - 11:15
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
Posted 02 December 2023 - 12:08
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.
Posted 02 December 2023 - 14:15
This is mine, for now.
I've not curated each tier in order of preference. They're just in alphabetical order.