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Which are the best street circuits in motor racing?
In 2023, F1 will be racing around an unprecedented number of street circuits with seven coming to the calendar. Let’s take a look at the best street circuits in F1…
World Champion Max Verstappen and the 19 other F1 stars will be blazing a trail around new circuits like the Miami Street Circuit and Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Corniche Circuit as well as classics like Monaco and Albert Park before the big reveal of the fantastic new Las Vegas Strip Street Circuit. Let’s take a look at the new circuit and the other seven street circuits in the 2023 F1 calendar and a few old favorites...
01
Las Vegas Strip Street Circuit
- Track length: 6.12 km
- Fastest lap: N/A
- Turns: 17
- Time in F1: 2023
Glamour, celebrities, luxury hotels, casinos, F1 and Las Vegas seem like a match made in heaven but the first attempt in the '80s was more like a match made in a late night Elvis-themed wedding chapel. In 1981 and ’82, F1 raced around the Caesars Palace car park, bringing the curtain down on the F1 season. It at least saw two drivers crowned champion (Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg) thanks to fifth placed finishes.
8 min
Pérez's Nevada night out
What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Relive an epic night with Formula One driver Sergio Pérez.
But F1 returns in much finer style with the promise of cars racing around the hotels and casinos of the fabulous Las Vegas Strip – at night. It will be a game changer. The track is from the pen of Carsten Tilke and makes its debut in November as the penultimate race of the season.
Raced anti-clockwise, highlights include the cars racing around the MSG Sphere Arena, a half-mile straight along Koval Lane in the heart of Las Vegas and the cars flying past the famous casinos of Treasure Island, The Mirage, Caesar’s Palace and the Bellagio Fountains and down a 1.9km back straight where they’ll top 340kph.
Be sure to download the free Red Bull TV app and catch the F1 action on all your devices. Get the app here.
Action packed Albert Park
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
02
Albert Park
- Track length: 5.28km
- Turns: 14
- Fastest lap: 1:20.235 Sergio Pérez in 2023
- Time in F1: 1996 to present
Take the tram from central Melbourne, glid past the MCC and Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open, get out at Albert Park and walk across the temporary pontoons over the lake and into the paddock. The Australian Grand Prix is one of the most convivial destinations on the F1 calendar.
The new Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit is 23 meters shorter and has two fewer corners, but the widened and newly resurfaced track offers more opportunity for overtaking and wheel-to-wheel racing – all set against the stunning Melbourne skyline. The track itself is bumpy – shaking newly built cars apart – and narrow which makes it tough to pass, yet the cars hit speeds of 235kph. All that means is that Safety Cars are a common sight at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.
Into the medieval city of Baku
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
03
Baku City Circuit
- Track length: 6.00km
- Turns: 20
- Fastest lap: 1:43.009 Charles Leclerc in 2019
- Time in F1: 2016 to present
Even though it boasts eight 90 degree corners, Azerbaijan's Baku City Circuit is a super fast circuit with a massive start/finish straight that gives drivers lots of opportunity to pass in front of the grandstands. The unofficial fastest speed here is 378kph, set by Valtteri Bottas in a Williams in free practice for the 2016 European Grand Prix on the Baku City Circuit, running an ultra-low downforce configuration – probably the fastest speed reached by an F1 car on a race weekend.
The track stands out from other circuits for a number of reasons, not least for the stunning location, which loops around the ancient city of Baku. While the backdrop may be serene, the racing has proved anything but, with a top speed of around 360kph making Baku one of the fastest of any current city circuit.
Spectacular Jeddah in Saudi Arabia
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
04
Jeddah Corniche Circuit
- Track length: 6.17km
- Turns: 27
- Fastest lap: 1:30.734 Lewis Hamilton in 2021
- Time in F1: 2021 to present
When it first burst on to the F1 calendar in 2021, no one was expecting the new Jeddah Corniche Circuit to be so breathtakingly quick and tight. Designed by Carsten Tilke, son of legendary F1 track designer Hermann Tilke, it’s a roller-coaster of a race track that takes F1 cars along the shores of the Red Sea at 250kph – making it currently the fastest F1 street circuit. But the circuit is also narrow, demanding absolute precision from the drivers and nerve. At 6.17km, it’s the second-longest circuit in F1, behind only the mighty 7km Spa-Francorchamps, home of the Belgian GP.
The host city is also stunning, combing traditional Arabian architecture with modern hotels and galleries. Known as the Pilgrim Port, Jeddah hosts millions of visitors every year who pass through on the way to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
05
Long Beach
- Track length: 3.27 km
- Turns: 11
- Fastest lap: 1:28.330 Niki Lauda in 1983
- Time in F1: 1976 to 1983
Are there any other circuits where a cruiseliner forms an essential part of the background? At California's Long Beach, the Queen Mary magisterially presides over the action, having been converted into a floating hotel after arriving there in 1967. Less than 10 years later, Formula 1 arrived as well, in 1976. The track was like nowhere else, consisting of a series of 90 degree corners and a long straight that led to a wide hairpin.
Its Formula 1 career ended in 1983 with a remarkable record: in an era where mega-horsepower turbo engines were rife, a turbocharged F1 car never won at Long Beach. Since then, it's become a favorite part of the IndyCar championship.
The tight streets of Macau
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
06
Macau (Guia Circuit)
- Track length: 6.11km
- Turns: 24
- Fastest lap: 2:06.317 Jüri Vips in 2019
- Time in F1: Never
They’ve been racing cars around the streets of Macau since 1954 with the Grand Prix weekend now hosting races in Formula 3, World Superbikes, GT and World Touring Car Championship. At just 7m wide at points, the Guia Circuit is much too narrow for F1 cars and so the amazing Macau Grand Prix has never made it on to the F1 schedule but it remains an important rite of passage for young drivers aspiring to line up on the F1 grid.
There aren't many places that make Monaco look easy, but Macau is one of them. The 6.12km track is incredibly unforgiving, thanks to an insidious cocktail of high speeds, a slippery surface and crash barriers close to the track that form immovable objects to meet irresistible forces. It's probably the most epic street circuit currently in use, but with no room for error, things can go quite wrong quite quickly.
Race winners here in F3 include such legends as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard and for drivers on the current grid, like Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo, a blast around Macau is the last challenge before moving up to F1.
Night racing at Singapore
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
07
Marina Bay Street Circuit
- Track length: 5.06km
- Fastest lap: 1:41.905 Kevin Magnussen in 2018
- Turns: 23
- Time in F1: 1969 to 1975
These tracks may all be street circuits, but that doesn't mean they're similar. On the contrary, they all offer hugely different experiences and Singapore's Marina Bay Street Circuit is no exception. Marina Bay stands out by virtue of being the only night race in this collection, with drivers lapping the streets of Singapore under incredibly bright overhead lights, and the result is a spectacle to behold.
Being a night race isn't the only thing that marks this circuit out as something special. It's also the only track to offer a floating grandstand, where cars actually pass underneath spectators. The track's bumpy finish straight adds to the event, delivering huge showers of sparks reminiscent of the 1980s, and it remains one of the most demanding circuits for drivers to navigate.
08
Miami International Autodrome
- Track length: 5.41 km
- Turns: 19
- Fastest lap: 1:29.708 Max Verstappen in 2023
- Time in F1: Since 2022
Multicultural, musical and vibrant, Miami is the 11th city to host F1 in the USA and brings a completely new flavor to the championship. This is also seen as a key part of Liberty Media’s grand design for F1: a calendar made up of classic venues like Silverstone, Monza and the Red Bull Ring, new circuits like COTA, Baku and Sakhir all enhanced by a revolving collection of boutique temporary events held in glamorous new locations. The Miami Grand Prix took glamour to a whole new level as so many celebrities crowded on to the grid, there was barely room for the cars. Meanwhile the tight track wove around the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the famous Miami Dolphins.
The Miami Dolphins cheerleaders and LL Cool J introduce Sergio Perez
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
The spectacular 5.41km layout features 19 corners, three straights, three DRS zones and top speeds of over 340kph. There are elevation changes too, the main one found between Turns 13 and 16, with the track heading over an exit ramp and under various flyovers across uneven ground. The Turn 14-15 chicane, meanwhile, has an uphill approach, with a crest in the middle, and then drops down on exit.
Fabulous Monte Carlo
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
09
(Circuit de) Monaco
- Track length: 3.33 km
- Fastest lap: 1:11.365 Max Verstappen in 2021
- Turns: 19
- Time in F1: 1950 to present
The granddaddy of all street circuits is, of course, Monaco: quite literally as it’s been running since 1929, made up part of the first F1 World Championship in 1950 and an ever present since 1955, bar 2020 due to Covid. The track was dreamed up by Antony Noghes and the last corner of the track is named after him. As the oldest, shortest and slowest circuit on the modern F1 calendar, races can be processional but there's often action at the first corner, Ste Devote, the Loews Hairpin (which requires the cars to be fitted with a special steering rack) and what's now the harbor chicane, where Alberto Ascari got it badly wrong in 1955 and ended up in the Med.
And it's all part of the DNA of F1 racing: it's the place where drivers and fans rub shoulders, the harbor bulges with super yachts and drivers celebrate by diving in the pool at the Red Bull Energy Station. It makes up part of the triple crown of motorsport with the Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours. Legendary winners here include Graham Hill, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. To get an idea of just how crazy Monaco is, just watch this stunning lap. It’s not been speeded up.
1 min
Monaco Grand Prixview
Monaco is the home for many F1 drivers. Brendon gives a tour around the streets of Monaco as he jumps in the simulator, using F1 2017 from Codemasters, and talks about his 2nd home race
10
Montjuïc Park
- Track length: 3.79km
- Fastest lap: 1:23.800 Ronnie Peterson in 1973
- Turns: 12
- Time in F1: 1969 to 1975
Montjuich Park
© Getty Images
The occasional host of the Spanish Grand Prix in the late 60s and 70s, Montjuïc was about as safe as juggling with shards of broken glass, but as a circuit it was truly spectacular, snaking through the park that went on to host the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. It was struck off on safety grounds in 1975 and was ultimately replaced by the purpose-built Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya up the coast at Montmelo.
Montjuïc was dogged by controversy and on one occasion the drivers actually went on strike due to the Armco barriers not being screwed down properly. In the end, the mechanics from all the teams clubbed together to go round the 3.79km track and do it themselves. Another random fact about the 1975 Grand Prix at Montjuïc: it was the only race where a woman scored F1 points, courtesy of Lella Lombardi.
