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With the Monaco Grand Prix coming up next week, we come around to the usual comments calling Monte Carlo boring because of its lack of overtaking, etc. So, I thought it would be interesting if people could list their favourite and least favourite Grand Prix ciruits with a decent summary of what makes each circuit so good/bad for them.
You can mention any number of circuits, past or current.
To start things off, I'll start with Monaco:
This track is a favourite of mine, because, like Ferrari, this circuit IS Formula 1. There is so much history here, so many great races, so much drama. The circuit itself has changed very little over the years and each and every corner remains memorable to me ever since I first remember watching the races here. For me the corner that always comes to my mind when I think of this track is the hairpin section but the whole track is quite memorable regardless.
Now, on the racing side of things, although this track is easily the worst for ease of overtaking, its the best place to test the drivers to the limit and a brilliant place if you enjoy watching drivers constantly on the attack trying to find that inch of space they would willingly throw the car down to get past. As we have seen in the past, rain really transforms the track, with the tunnel providing a unique problem with wet tyres as its obviously a large dry patch.
Also uniquely, this track seems to have more collisions but less safety cars per car retired than any other, thanks to the many cranes and amazingly fast work by the marshals here.
So, my main reason for enjoying watching the racing at this track is purely for the history and its unique character - especially for throwing up some interesting race results!
But, I have one other reason for loving this track, its brilliant to drive in games. In Gran Turismo and many other games, I love this track for its technical side, calling for fast and precise driving and good test of constant concentration levels - one mistake means a lot of damage to tyre or car. Most people seem to dislike it for its little overtaking opportunities and its difficulty to keep the car in good shape but I personally love it.
Last but not least...the location is beautiful, and even if the racing is rubbish, at least the picture is very nice. Some may say this GP represents all that is bad about F1, but I say it represents the soul of F1 - whatever happens to F1 in future, I hope this track always stays a part of it!
And secondly: Hungaroring
This track is also a favourite of mine but for different reasons to Monaco. Once again, this track suffers from a distinct lack of overtaking and unlike Monaco, doesn't make up for this in stunning location nor in difficulty or extreme conditions. What it does have in common with Monaco though, is odd results. However, rather than Monaco featuring common winners but different points scorers, Hungary features a variety of winnners, looking at the list of past winners, Schumacher only managed to win here 4 times, and Senna 3 (I say only, but thats less than some other tracks). Generally, Hungary provides a new winner each year, occasionally a repeat winner but not usually.
I think my love of this track stems more from my experience of driving it in the few games it appears in, it seems to cater my preference of driving I suppose, the lap flows well for me and I really enjoy driving it, no corner is really special but the track is just a really good one for me.
Really, in the end, with this track I think I just enjoy it purely to drive on and for its race results but for its actual racing? Not really, I don't think anyone does. I'm not so sure this track should stay on the calendar, I love driving it but its never been a special Grand Prix, despite that one time I watched every second of it
You can mention any number of circuits, past or current.
To start things off, I'll start with Monaco:
This track is a favourite of mine, because, like Ferrari, this circuit IS Formula 1. There is so much history here, so many great races, so much drama. The circuit itself has changed very little over the years and each and every corner remains memorable to me ever since I first remember watching the races here. For me the corner that always comes to my mind when I think of this track is the hairpin section but the whole track is quite memorable regardless.
Now, on the racing side of things, although this track is easily the worst for ease of overtaking, its the best place to test the drivers to the limit and a brilliant place if you enjoy watching drivers constantly on the attack trying to find that inch of space they would willingly throw the car down to get past. As we have seen in the past, rain really transforms the track, with the tunnel providing a unique problem with wet tyres as its obviously a large dry patch.
Also uniquely, this track seems to have more collisions but less safety cars per car retired than any other, thanks to the many cranes and amazingly fast work by the marshals here.
So, my main reason for enjoying watching the racing at this track is purely for the history and its unique character - especially for throwing up some interesting race results!
But, I have one other reason for loving this track, its brilliant to drive in games. In Gran Turismo and many other games, I love this track for its technical side, calling for fast and precise driving and good test of constant concentration levels - one mistake means a lot of damage to tyre or car. Most people seem to dislike it for its little overtaking opportunities and its difficulty to keep the car in good shape but I personally love it.
Last but not least...the location is beautiful, and even if the racing is rubbish, at least the picture is very nice. Some may say this GP represents all that is bad about F1, but I say it represents the soul of F1 - whatever happens to F1 in future, I hope this track always stays a part of it!
And secondly: Hungaroring
This track is also a favourite of mine but for different reasons to Monaco. Once again, this track suffers from a distinct lack of overtaking and unlike Monaco, doesn't make up for this in stunning location nor in difficulty or extreme conditions. What it does have in common with Monaco though, is odd results. However, rather than Monaco featuring common winners but different points scorers, Hungary features a variety of winnners, looking at the list of past winners, Schumacher only managed to win here 4 times, and Senna 3 (I say only, but thats less than some other tracks). Generally, Hungary provides a new winner each year, occasionally a repeat winner but not usually.
I think my love of this track stems more from my experience of driving it in the few games it appears in, it seems to cater my preference of driving I suppose, the lap flows well for me and I really enjoy driving it, no corner is really special but the track is just a really good one for me.
Really, in the end, with this track I think I just enjoy it purely to drive on and for its race results but for its actual racing? Not really, I don't think anyone does. I'm not so sure this track should stay on the calendar, I love driving it but its never been a special Grand Prix, despite that one time I watched every second of it
