Designing The World’s Ultimate Racing Circuit

There’s no F1 on this weekend, so to plug that sorry hole in our lives, here’s an idea for taking the best bits of the best racetracks in the world, and creating the ultimate racing black-top mash-up. Let’s begin at the start...

Straight & Turn 1: COTA’s Turn 1

Every race needs a dramatic and potentially mayhem-strewn first corner, so let’s kick off with Turn One at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, USA. After launching the cars off the grid, drivers charge up a hilariously steep gradient to a tight left-hander, with the apex totally blind until you’re atop the hill. The slope makes selecting a perfect braking point that much harder – and then once the drivers have the car stopped and turned in, the circuit falls away beneath them on a steep downhill charge to Turn 2...

Turn 2: Spa’s Eau Rouge

Another massively steep climb, but made tastier here by the little left-right jink the cars make as they take the compression flat out. Eau Rouge isn’t just awesome for the speed or gradient though – it’s actually the scene of some of the ballsiest overtakes you’ll ever see.

Turn 3: Istanbul’s Turn Eight

Turkey no longer features on the F1 calendar, and that’s a pity for one reason: we’re denied the spectacle of the world’s ultimate racing cars taking on its infamous Turn Eight. Less one corner and more four high-speed left hand kinks one after another, it’s a huge strain on tyres, suspension, aero, and driver strength. Slingshot out of it and there’s a good chance of getting a pass in before...

Turn 4: Suzuka’s 130R

Suzuka is a cracking circuit, and the highlight of the lap is the high-speed 130R left-hander. It’s narrow, there’s tricky cambers, and the drivers approach it at 180mph+. Brake and go for the racing line, or turn in with your foot in, hope it sticks and run a daring pass around the outside...130R is so fast it’s been neutered in recent years, with a redesign turning it into a double-apex 90-degree sweeper, but it’s still one of the highlights of the F1 calendar.

Turn 5: Monaco’s Hairpin

It’s the slowest corner in F1, impossible to overtake on, so why throw it into our ultimate circuit? Apart from being downright vindictive to our poor drivers, it’s actually a nasty corner for the cars. There’s next to no air-flow through the engine bay, the tyres and brakes cool, and it makes the cars harder to set up – you need a lot of steering lock to get round the hair-pin, which means a quicker rack for our perfect track. All that can cause havoc later on and make the cars even harder to drive.

Turn 6: Silverstone’s Maggotts/Beckets

Often held aloft as one of the drivers’ favourite sections in all the F1 season, the high-speed complex at Silverstone is, to use the old commentators’ cliché, where you see F1 cars performing at their absolute best. Massive lateral loads through the suspension and tyres, applying full power through the rear wheels, and huge downforce nailing the car into the road – it’s one for the motor racing hall of fame.

Turn 7: Catalunya’s Turn Three

This turn isn’t just here to join the dots. A wide, sweeping right-hander that tightens after the apex and features an alarmingly off-camber entry, it’s another great all-round challenge for drivers, cars, and team engineers. Why do you think all the teams do pre-season testing at Catalunya, after all? Easy to negotiate, but tricky to master. For our ultimate track, the corner will open out onto another climb, over the last sector of the track on a gorgeous flyover bridge, on the way up to...

Turn Eight: Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew

Does the Corkscrew need any introduction? Narrow, blind braking point. Impossibly steep left hand drop, then immediately after a huge compression and opening right-hander that sweeps downhill. The G forces are all over the place – and your car will be too if you don’t give the Corkscrew some serious respect. Would Kimi dare try a pass on here? You bet.

Turn Nine: Monza’s Curva Parabolica

Another long, opening right-hander that’s a real tyre- and driver’s neck-breaker. Hit the gas too early and you’ll understeer off into the gravel, but fail to carry enough speed and your lap will be ruined, as you head down to...

Ten: Silverstone’s Brooklands/Luffield

One of those great complexes that creates an overtaking power struggle, as drivers switch from outside line to inside to outside, bringing tactics, pinpoint driving accuracy and sheer ballsiness into play. Coming in the final sector of the lap, it could make for some titanic battles as drivers desperately try to fight their way past on the final lap.

Turn 11: Spa’s La Source

Final turn, following a long straight, into a right hairpin that’s been the scene of many hairy moments at Spa. Not too shabby a corner to end on, no?

Which classic track features would make it into your ultimate racetrack? Hit up the comments if you reckon you know better...