Harry’s Revised Track Lineup

With Burnie Eccelstone going to new places with his Grand Prix locations, naturally they need new tracks. This is all well and good but for some reason he keeps hiring Herman Tilke to design them. You know, the same guy that designed such magnificent tracks as Korea International Circuit and Bahrain International Circuit.

I’m going to have a look at the current calendar and see where I think a better track could be substituted:

1-Bahrain-Bahrain International Circuit

Designed by the Tilkemeister himself and causes endless controversy every time anyone even thinks about hosting a race there. What’s not to love about a track that Mark Webber described as ‘like driving round some cones in the desert’ The races aren’t even particularly exciting either, time for a change I think.

The replacement-Turkey-Istanbul Park

 

This track was taken off the calendar after 2011, the reason being money issues. A real shame, as the track has some brilliant corners, especially the multiple apex turn 8. Also probably Felipe Massa’s favourite track, having won it more than anyone else. The track has also produced some classic F1 moments, least of all in 2010 when Vettel crashed into Webber.

 

 

 

2-Great Britain-Silverstone

Now, I’ll probably receive a lot of flak for saying this, but this track just isn’t very good any more. In 2010 the track was somewhat redesigned by, you guessed it, Herman Tilke (detecting a theme here?) Naturally this instantly made it the worst race track in the country, barely a fraction of the track it once was.

The replacement-Great Britain-Oulton Park/Donington Park

Yes really. I’m being a little biased here I’m not going to lie. But I live just a few miles from Oulton Park, I’ve seen races there, I’ve been round the track, I know it like the back of my hand. I know it’s an excellent track. On the other hand I don’t know quite as much about Donington Park, but I do know it was scheduled to host the 2010 British GP instead of Silverstone and it has held the British GP in the past. I’m not sure whether Oulton Park would work but I’d certainly like to see it.

3-Hungary-Hungaroring

Originally conceived as a sort of Monaco of the Soviet Union back in 1986, the circuit has had it’s fair share of memorable moments. Both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button achieved their first victories in F1 here, ironically the latter winning after the retirement of the former. Because of it’s twisty nature the circuit has often been compared to Monaco, only without the casinos, or the money, or the glamour but with plenty of communism.

The replacement-Czech Republic-Brno Circuit/Austria-Red Bull Ring

 

Opened at the same time as the Hungaroring, the Brno Circuit already hosts a round of the WTCC, DTM and numerous other events. It’s a rare mix of high speed mixed in with some tight corners and a serious elevation change which could lead to some exciting races. The Red Bull Ring on the other hand has been used before in F1. Twice in fact. Firstly it was known as the Österreichring and then the A1-Ring, both times hosting the Austrian GP. This seems like a likely substitute for the Hungaroring simply based on Austria and Hungary’s natural connection to each other.

4-Singapore-Marina Bay Street Circuit

This track was first used in 2008 and I’ll let you guess who designed it. Ahhh I bet you didn’t guess Herman Tilke! Unsurprisingly it wasn’t very good, being far too bumpy for anything less than a rally car, and with kerbs large enough to stop a Challenger 2 tank. Several of the drivers complained and some of the problems were amended. Unfortunately the race was marred by the actions of the Renault team and their ‘crashgate’ scandal. Keeping with an Asian track, here is the replacement.

The replacement-Macau-Guia Circuit

 

The Guia circuit in Macau is often heralded as the most prestigious grand prix track outside of Formula one. Similar in setting to Monaco, except it’s twice as long and twice as demanding. Like many of the circuits on this list it already plays host to a multitude of racing events, including WTCC, Formula 3 and a Motorcycle race.

 

 

 

5-Korea-Korea International Circuit

This track has literally nothing going for it, many people didn’t think it would be ready for the 2010 season and to be honest, it pretty much wasn’t. Herman Tilke designed it. The track looked like a building site then and it looks like a building now. Many drivers complained about the pit exit being downright dangerous, coming straight onto the racing line of turn 1. Did I mention Herman Tilke designed it?

The replacement-Mexico-Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

 

It’s been a while since Mexico was on the calendar and I think now that there are 2 Mexican drivers the time is right to welcome it back.   Featuring 2 long straights and a large banked corner it looks like a high speed track that would test reliability of the cars as well as driver skill. It already hosts some IndyCar and NASCAR events (surprisingly NOT using the oval track!) events and host some other local events. Also Nigel Mansell won here, so that’s good.

 

 

 

There, that was all the tracks that I think could do with replacing. As an honourable mention I would suggest Magny-Cours as a possible French GP but I couldn’t fit that into the calendar. Perhaps in the future I’ll e-mail this to Burnie Eccelstone, give him some serious ideas.

F1 Article

By Harry Wright

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twitter-@hazzwright

e-mail-hazz_wright@hotmail.co.uk

Comments

comments