5. Interlagos (3 times)

Thanks to political strife in Argentina, Brazil became the first round in 1976, and we are going to stipulate the sinuous, fabulous five-mile version of Interlagos on which that race was won by Niki Lauda for Ferrari. The disappearance of Phoenix and Kyalami by the mid-1990s meant the shorter track became the opener for a couple of years. That’s still pretty good, and better than Rio’s Jacarepaguá that became the staple 1980s F1 starter. Added bonus of firemen spraying water jets at the crowd to cool them down.

4. Melbourne (23 times)

Albert Park makes it onto our list due to longevity, although initially it was regarded as inferior to the season-ending Adelaide circuit it replaced. Melbourne is set for its 24th F1 opener – top of the pile ahead of Buenos Aires, Kyalami, Rio (seven) and Bahrain (six). The city is a popular destination for the F1 paddock, and the post-Covid modification of Turns 9/10 to create a flowing series of high-speed turns up to Turn 13 has vastly improved the track. No Aussie has won an F1 GP here, or at Adelaide.

3. Monaco (5 times)

OK… starting the season in May means switching Australia, Japan and North America to the end of the year, and forgetting about China and the Middle East. But we’re traditionalists, right? And to add to that, it would need non-championship curtain-raisers – Race of Champions, anyone? – for teams to bed in their cars: no Bahrain testing here! Monte Carlo was a regular world championship overture from 1959-66. Proviso is mandatory post-victory celebration from Graham Hill, above, in the Tip Top bar.

2. Kyalami (8 times)

There was a call from a corner of the Motor Sport office for this to be on New Year’s Day, but that was only the case in 1968, above, when the South African GP ran for the second time on the original Kyalami layout (to follow the 1967 opener on January 2). Then it moved to March, which meant the South American races added from ’72 shunted it back in the schedule. The circuit was a classic – long straight for slipstreaming and high-speed turns. ‘New’ Kyalami kicked off the ’92 and ’93 seasons but it wasn’t the same.

1. Buenos Aires (15 times)

No, not the twiddly circuit that made a comeback to the Formula 1 calendar in the mid-1990s, but the glorious 3.7-mile ‘Number 15’ version of the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez upon which the Argentinian Grand Prix was staged from 1974-81. That layout included the scintillating Curvón, a long 180-degree right-hander – a bit like Gerards at Mallory Park but in sweltering heat. Buenos Aires became established as the world championship’s starting point in all but one year from 1953-60, then returned in 1972 to play host to annual heartbreak for home hero Carlos Reutemann, shock wins such as Wolf in 1977 and Ligier in 1979, cars and drivers wilting in the South American summer, and wild crowds. Superb