What are F1's fastest circuits?

An iconic 220mph+ start/finish straight, the thrilling Curva Grande, the tricky two Lesmos and the Parabolica which slingshots cars back into doing it all again makes for the fastest lap in F1, with an average lap of 164mph.

Some of F1’s greatest duels have occurred in the leafy Italian parkland: Peter Gethin winning a five-car scrap by 0.01sec,  John Surtees taking a 0.02sec victory over Jack Brabham, Sebastian Vettel’s masterful first win in the wet and Charles Leclerc bringing Scuderia glory back for the Tifosi in 2019.

First constructed in 1922, the track has evolved through several layouts, including the now-unused banking section, but still remains the fastest circuit on the F1 calendar.

By 1928 its reputation as a track not to be taken lightly was already confirmed, after an accident which killed competitor Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators shook the motor sport world. Five years later came the ‘Black Day of Monza’ which saw three drivers killed in one race: Giuseppe Campari, Baconin Borzacchini and Stanislaw Czaykowski.

Later tragedies including Wolfgang von Trips’ fatal crash into spectators in 1961 and Jochen Rindt’s deadly accident just a few metres further down the road at the Parabolica.

However, despite the all the obvious dangers, Monza remains a cherished fixture on the calendar. If you want to go fast, there’s no place better.

The track is essentially a high-speed chase up and down the Corniche waterfront, an opening chicane leading to 11 fast winding corners.

A hairpin then heads to 13 more twisting turns, with one more almost 180-degree corner to finish it off.

Sergio Perez called the circuit “the most dangerous place on the calendar”, but other drivers praised it, with Carlos Sainz saying in 2021, “The intensity that this track gives you and the thrill and the adrenaline is something that I haven’t lived a bit since my Macau days.”

The circuit has claimed some high-speed victims, with Mick Schumacher crashing in the ’21 race and then even more heavily in qualifying this year, but he was thankfully unscathed.

Some corners were widened slightly for 2022 in a bid to improve visibility, with more safety changes implemented for 2023, but Jeddah still remains one of F1’s greatest challenges.

A technical section now begins the lap, before drivers first get to put their foot down on the Wellington Straight.

The excitement gradually builds as drivers slink through Brooklands, Luffield and Woodcote until hitting F1-warp speed in the form of Copse. One of F1’s fastest corners, it has been witness to masterful overtakes through the years and was the scene last season of the dramatic coming-together of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Copse, linked up with the Beckett’s complex, the Hangar straight and Stowe, forms one of the sports most revered corner combinations.

As mentioned above, things might have changed a bit since Keke Rosberg stubbed out his cigarette and decided this was the lap, but Silverstone is still one of F1’s fastest and thrilling tracks.

Its modern form is still not to be underestimated: once the low-speed La Source hairpin is out the way, drivers have to contend with perhaps F1’s greatest corner combination, Eau Rouge and Raidillon. Despite naysayers proclaiming the terrifying kink is not what it was after safety modifications, recent crashes by Jack Aitken and Lando Norris demonstrates it’s still a curve to be reckoned with.

From there it’s foot-to-the-floor down the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes. Pouhon, Stavelot and Blanchimont only add to the classic ensemble of corners.

Spa, naturally, has provided many a thriller through the years: Damon Hill taking Jordan’s first win; Lewis Hamilton ‘winning’ at the death in 2008, and Jim Clark’s four consecutive virtuoso wins from ’62 to ’65.

The racing topography gives Spa its beauty, but the sheer speed is equally important in forming this legendary track’s character.

Max Verstappen barged Charles Leclerc out the way as the 2019 edition came to its climax, and we saw Lando Norris claim a thrilling last lap podium the year after, but the old iteration was partial to a thriller also.

John Watson out-slipstreamed Ronnie Peterson, Jody Scheckter and James Hunt to take Penske’s first win in 1976, whilst in 1982 Elio de Angelis just pipped Keke Rosberg to the win in F1’s fourth-closest finish – 0.05sec.

The start – finish straight is relatively unusual (as is COTA) in that it immediately climbs uphill, as drivers ascend into the Styrian mountains.

The first half of the circuit is essentially a collection of long straights connected by slow-to-medium speed corners, with a winding section leading to finish what is F1’s shortest lap – a thrill-a-minute go-kart track of mountainous proportions.

A looping first corner leads into the slalom ‘S’ Curves, before the tricky Degner turns – ones which come up so fast they have often caught out drivers who find themselves suddenly in the gravel or barriers.

The Hairpin and then Spoon corners then launch drivers into one of F1’s biggest challenges, the 130R. Taken at over 300km/h, the sweeping left-hander has been reprofiled to make it safer, but still remains one of the most formidable in grand prix racing.

Ayrton Senna famously took out Alain Prost at the ’90 race to secure his second title, the track unfortunately claiming other victims too: Nigel Mansell crashed spectacularly at the S Curves to end his ’87 title hopes, Allan McNish had a horrifying shunt through the barriers at 130R in 2002 and Jules Bianchi tragically died from his injuries less than a year after his crash into a recovery vehicle at the 2014 race.

However, after a three-year absence due to Covid, F1 returns this year – and drivers apparently can’t wait. Suzuka still remains one of the fastest thrill-rides in the championship.

Though it might not spring to mind as one of the more rapid laps in F1, Albert Park does in fact have one of the fastest average speeds, as cars swoop round the lake at the centre of parkland in downtown Melbourne.

In a bid to encourage more overtaking, the track was modified for this year, making it faster than ever: Turn 6 was widened to make it more of a fast sweep rather than a right-hander to be respected, and the removal of the 9-10 chicane combination has now created a rat run into the hugely-fast ‘new’ 9 – 10 chicane (formerly 11 – 12).

Cars hit 322km/h cars then race down to Turn 9, with another high speed chase into 11 before a technical section rounds-off the lap.

The circuit has had memorable races such as Jenson Button’s thrilling 2010 win and David Coulthard’s victory through a war of attrition in 2003, as well as some huge high-speed crashes – think Ralf Schumacher 2002 or Martin Brundle’s 1996 smash at the track’s debut.