Formula 1 racing laps on the city streets

The Formula 1 season consists of various Grand Prix races held on circuits around the world. These cars are the fastest racing vehicles on the circuit, so the surfaces on which they race have to be specially adapted. However, there are also a number of street circuits used, and we'll tell you about them here. Casino online offers race results tracking and betting every year, so the people involved should feel safe going to these races too.

F1 track design

Formula 1 track design is important. For example, there should be a straight stretch of road that can be used as a starting grid. There should also be a pit area where drivers can stop to change tyres and carry out other mechanical operations. In addition, the tracks may differ significantly from each other.

Other things need to be thought about, such as the need for a hotel with at least 5 000 rooms to accommodate everyone. For this reason, most of the tracks in operation in the world are purpose-built, but five street tracks are currently in use. Although driver safety is a primary concern, some tracks, such as Monaco, are still used for their associated glitz.

Five street circuits

There are currently only five street circuits where Formula 1 Grand Prix are held. 

1. Monaco

Arguably the most famous street circuit in the world, if not the most famous circuit in general, the Circuit de Monaco is just over two kilometres long and has nineteen corners. 

The circuit is set on the streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine and is used twice a year, once for Formula 1 and once for Formula E or Monaco's historic Grand Prix, depending on whether it is an odd or even year. 

The first race on the streets of Monaco took place in 1929 and the circuit is known for its narrow, elevated stages and sharp corners. It is considered one of the most challenging circuits in the sport, with both the slowest and one of the fastest corners. It takes six weeks to build and another three weeks to dismantle.

2. Albert Park circuit

Built around Albert Park Lake in Melbourne, Australia, this track was first opened in 1953 and then reopened in 1996. It hosts the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, the Melbourne 400 Supercar Championship and the races that take place during these events each year and holds an FIA Category 1 licence. The track is just over three miles long.

Although the track is made up of roads that are normally open to the public, it offers features normally associated with dedicated race tracks. The grass and gravel run-off areas, which serve as safety zones, are renewed annually. Lake Albert itself is a small, man-made lake, and when the roads around it were rebuilt in 1996, this was done to ensure their smoothness.

The circuit is considered one of the easiest Grand Prix circuits to drive and drivers love it because it is fast. It takes six weeks to build the fencing, pedestrian overpasses and grandstands, as well as other motorsport infrastructure, and the limited access to local amenities during this time means that it is not popular with the local population.

3. Marina Bay Street Circuit

The Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore is just over three miles long and is open to ninety thousand people. It opened in August 2008, exactly one year after construction began, at a cost of thirty-three million Singapore dollars. Since then, it has been modified several times and boasts an FIA Category 1 licence.

The Singapore circuit has a unique reputation: since its inauguration, every race has featured a safety car. It is also unique in that part of the track is under the grandstand section of the floating platform. It is an unforgiving track, initially criticised by drivers for being too bumpy in places and unsuitable for Singapore's climate.

It was the drivers' complaints that led to the many changes that have been made over the years, with the Singapore authorities constantly improving and changing the track. The fact that the Singapore Grand Prix is a night race meant that floodlights had to be built, with around one thousand six hundred specially built floodlights installed.

4. Sochi Autodrom

Sochi may be the city most often associated with the Winter Olympics, but it is also home to the Russian Grand Prix. The approximately three and a half kilometre long circuit opened in 2014 and hosts not only Formula 1 races, but many other events as well. It was formerly known as both the Sochi International Street Circuit and the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit.

It is similar to both the Beijing Olympic Green Track and the Sydney Olympic Park Track, as it is based on the former Olympic complex. It is the fourth longest track on the F1 calendar, exceeded only by Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan and Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom.

The starting area is next to the railway station and the drivers head towards the Black Sea. When it opened, it was praised by the sport's governing body, which said that everything was in "very good condition". 

5. Baku City Track

The fifth street circuit is the Baku City Circuit, built near the Baku Boulevard in the capital of Azerbaijan. This circuit is the second longest on the Formula 1 calendar, and only the Spa-Francorchamps circuit surpasses its three and a half seven-mile length. It was opened for the 2016 European Grand Prix, and the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held in 2017.

It is one of the few circuits that runs anti-clockwise, and before its opening it was predicted to be the world's fastest street circuit. This was indeed the case, and the track reached a top speed of three hundred and sixty kilometres per hour. The track has twenty turns and nine grandstands for spectators.

Given Azerbaijan's connection with oil, it is probably not surprising that the city of Baku was included in the list of Formula 1 venues. It is a place that drivers love, offering winding city sections similar to Monaco, as well as straights similar to the Monza circuit that allow drivers to drive in a straight line. Here, the driver's control of fuel consumption can be decisive.