Ask any driver of F1 fan to name their favourite circuit and you’ll likely hear back names like Spa-Francorchamps, Monaco and Monza but what about modern-day race tracks?
Every new Formula One circuit gets designed by the same man, Hermann Tilke, and over half the tracks on the current F1 calendar have been worked on by the German.
So after witnessing three ‘Tilkedromes’ in a row in 2016, we got wondering what is Tilke’s best work? We asked our F1 panel to choose their favourites…
This is perhaps pushing the definition of a Tilke circuit. The layout itself was not originally his idea. That instead came courtesy of race promoter Tavo Hellmund and motorcycle world champion Kevin Schwantz, who doodled a design for the track on the back of a napkin. Nevertheless, it was Tilke who took the conception into reality, producing one of the finest motorsport facilities in the world.
From the steep incline on the run up to turn one, the back-and-forth of the esses in the first sector, the long back straight before the heavy braking zone to the on-edge final sector, COTA is a track that has produced some spectacular racing on both two and four wheels.
Last year’s US GP was a classic, in part thanks to the awesome track. Concerns about its Formula One future have been allayed for 2016, thankfully – losing COTA would have been a significant blow. The track has already become one of America’s favourite racing venues, and is helping F1 to crack its perennial problem child of a market. Long may it continue to host world class racing.
If you look down the list of all the Tilke circuits, it seems like a daunting task to choose which one stands out. But being an avid player of the Formula One games, it’s an even more difficult task, because in some cases a circuit that is wonderful to drive around in-game, hasn’t produced the best racing in real life.
Before I say my favourite, some honourable mentions for tracks such as the Istanbul Park with its insane quadruple apex Turn 8, where drivers pull near 5 g in g-force. Or the amazing spectacles that are the Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain Grand Prix circuits. The last of which has produced some immense racing in the V6-era.
But for my stand out favourite, it has to be the Circuit of the Americas. It produced arguably the best race of the 2015 season and as a circuit to drive, my God is it fun. The elevated turn one which then drops down to the Maggots-Becketts style first sector is a dream to drive when you nail every apex. A long back straight for cars to slip-stream and then a third sector that is tricky and technical. All round, a brilliant modern-Tilke circuit.
He who must not be named. No, not Lord Voldemort. Hermann Tilke. Utter his name around Formula One fans and you’ll have to listen really hard to hear anything positive muttered amongst the loud cries and hatred.
He probably doesn’t deserve the bad reputation. For every bad circuit, Tilke has designed a great circuit. For every Buddh, Korea and Valencia, he’s given us a Red Bull Ring, Bahrain or Circuit of the Americas – tracks with character and overtaking opportunities aplenty.
For every bad circuit, Tilke has designed a great circuit.
Ryan Wood
Whilst those three are personal favourites, ranking amongst his top five, two of his creations sit higher in my opinion. Sepang and Istanbul Park. Not only are they Tilke’s best works, but they rank amongst some of the finest circuits in existence.
If I were to choose just one, it would have to be the latter. The Turkish circuit has delivered some great F1 races and it boasts some great corners – Turn 8 ranks up there with Eau Rouge and 130R – why it isn’t on the F1 calendar anymore remains a great and sad mystery.
Hermann Tilke is often derided for his creations but within the constraints of the regulations and the land available to him, he and his company have been largely successful.
Tilke’s best design in my mind is Istanbul Park, located on the outskirts of one of Turkey’s largest cities. The Formula One race weekend unfortunately never took off in popularity, for reasons outside of Tilke’s control, but several parts of the circuit are breath-taking. The highlight, of course, is the quadruple apex Turn 8, a fast left-hander which demands sheer commitment and car control from the drivers.
It’s far from the most scenic of venues, and run-off is slightly excessive, but the undulation and layout created a stern challenge for racers and produced some scintillating races, none more so than when Lewis Hamilton mounted his now iconic recovery in the GP2 race a decade ago.
I’m a street circuit fan at heart so I’ll always leans towards the European Grand Prix venue of Valencia when it comes to discussing Hermann Tilke, because it was a demanding track that never really got the support that others did.
It was similar to Monaco as it was a coastal track that had colourful high walls and kerbs, but was hard to overtake on. That was its main complaint, but the fans made that critique, not the drivers. The onboard footage always made it feel claustrophobic and challenging in equal measure, which is what a street track should be, first and foremost.
There were parts which were curious and exhilarating in equal measure; the swing bridge at Turns 8 and 9, and the incredibly fast chicanes of Turns 21 to 24 that turned into a jittery braking area before the final Turn 25. At qualifying pace, it was breathtaking to watch drivers wrestle F1 cars around it.
In some ways Valencia was a track out of time – had it been on the F1 calendar a decade, or even two, earlier it might have grown into a fan favourite, one that was a faster, free flowing Monaco, but instead it didn’t click as a track for fans until it’s final outing in 2012. DRS and KERS delivered that missing aspect of overtaking, but the feel of falseness that purists still challenge today, coupled with Mark Webber’s monstrous shunt in 2010, only added to the negativity surrounding it. It now lies sadly abandoned and looted, a fate no race track should ever suffer.
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