The Method 1 calendar is as huge because it’s ever been with 24 circuits to go to for drivers, group workers and media – the place nobody monitor is identical.
So for a little bit of low season enjoyable, we’ve got rated all present venues – besides Madrid, which is because of debut this yr – based mostly on 4 standards: format, historical past/environment, location and services.
Here’s what our F1 writers mentioned, having judged every monitor based mostly on your entire expertise.
1. Greatest circuit format
The primary, and maybe most tough one to guage, is the format itself. Does the circuit present nice racing, or is it not less than one in all F1’s most difficult tracks which places driver ability to the final word take a look at? As we’ve got seen lately, these two goals do not at all times align with one another. However by judging every circuit on each, we’ve got come to a balanced consequence.
Filip Cleeren – Interlagos has all of it
This has been an attention-grabbing class to guage due to the explanations outlined above. Sure, Suzuka and Monaco are excellent as a problem, however combining these thrills with action-packed racing and overtaking has develop into quite a bit rarer in modern-day F1, largely all the way down to the automobiles. Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit is one of some that manages to do each, due to its bowl-shaped design that options loads of camber, making a number of racing strains doable. Add in an extended major straight and a sprinkle of rain, the tip outcome offers an entertaining cocktail that seldom disappoints – lengthy might it proceed!
Monza is an in depth second and though Suzuka’s racing is not nice, I felt the format is simply too good to dismiss. I do worth the problem and great thing about a circuit, so in comparison with my friends, I am the one to go away Bahrain out of my prime 10, although I am going to admit together with Las Vegas is considerably contradictory. For all of its pomp, it hasn’t did not entertain but.
Oleg Karpov – Good racing issues
I’m no racing driver, so I can’t truthfully rank circuits based mostly on how pleasant they’re to drive – like about 99.9 % of the world’s inhabitants. For me, what issues way more is whether or not a monitor offers good racing to observe. And, coincidence or not, the less complicated the format, the higher the racing. I assure that if F1 raced on the Norisring, these can be the perfect races you’d ever see.
Chicanes and hairpins after lengthy straights, a number of overtaking alternatives across the lap, and the likelihood to relaunch assaults are easy, however very environment friendly instruments to offer an excellent spectacle. For me, on this class nothing beats the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit, the place the entire first sector offers an ideal area for correct wheel-to-wheel battles, with totally different strains and alternatives to retake the place. Austria is analogous in that regard, and Canada, with its well-known hairpin and lengthy again straight, can also be an ideal place for good racing.
Does Bahrain deserve extra credit score for the racing it offers?
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Photos
Stuart Codling – Spa delivers typically sufficient
Nice driver circuits don’t at all times make for compelling racing, as evinced by the truth that the twentieth anniversary of the final really memorable Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka (Kimi Raikkonen’s cost from seventeenth to victory in 2005) has now handed. So with a heavy coronary heart I downgraded that venue.
Majestic Spa-Francorchamps doesn’t at all times ship, but it surely does so typically sufficient – normally with the help of the fickle Ardennes microclimate – for me to present it prime marks. Plus extra of its difficult sections are open to spectators than Suzuka’s.
For a colorless, windy outdated airfield in the midst of nowhere (with apologies to the sturdy burghers of Towcester), Silverstone delivers in each problem and spectacle. Interlagos completes my prime three for a similar causes adumbrated by Fil, adopted intently by the US and Canadian GP venues, for various causes; Montreal’s precise monitor format is a bit ho-hum but it surely has a method of constructing issues occur.
Bahrain has a compact, intelligent format, and has come into its personal with the shift to a night-race format and the abrasive floor’s behavior of ruining Pirellis. However nonetheless, I really feel Oleg should have been sniffing glue earlier than inserting it at primary…!
Ronald Vording – Silverstone ticks each bins
An iconic format and good racing have confirmed to be two (utterly) various things, particularly with the soiled air issues that we’ve got seen in 2025. Silverstone, nevertheless, ticks each bins: the venue of F1’s first world championship race stays iconic and has produced loads of good races in latest historical past.
The identical applies to Sao Paulo, whereas Spa-Francorchamps and Suzuka ought to, for my part, nonetheless rank very extremely based mostly on their spectacular layouts. Lastly, the other is true for Bahrain: not an iconic format as such, but it surely does have sufficient substances for good racing – simply take into consideration that Leclerc versus Verstappen battle in 2022.
2. Historical past and environment
The second class is historical past, environment and fan expertise. F1 is nothing with out its wealthy 75-year historical past, so venues which are deeply rooted in F1 tradition must be valued. On the identical time, a few of F1’s newer races have additionally offered an ideal vibe and fan expertise to develop into immediate classics, so the 2 can and will coexist.
Oleg Karpov – Nothing beats Monza and its tifosi
There are locations on the F1 calendar the place you simply really feel the vibe and totally embrace it. And it is available in totally different flavours. To witness Monaco, with its harbour, street closures and simply the sheer logistics of a grand prix weekend, is one thing really distinctive. Then there’s the music-festival environment of Zandvoort or Silverstone, and the craziness of the Mexican GP paddock.
All of those races are distinctive and in contrast to any others, and it’s a bloody tough activity to rank them. However to me, nothing beats the Italian GP, with the allure of the Parco di Monza and the fervour of the tifosi, with Austria proper up there as nicely – a spot that has develop into utterly totally different lately, with all of the Max Verstappen followers turning it right into a Dutch province for every week. Add to that the gorgeous Styrian mountains and the native Gasthofs and eating places, and it makes for an unimaginable expertise.
Ronald Vording – Japan’s followers are unmatched
When it comes to expertise and fan enthusiasm, Japan is unmatched for me. The followers are extraordinarily respectful and gown up in probably the most inventive methods. It’s an expertise in its personal proper. Elsewhere, you may actually really feel the historical past and the fervour of the tifosi in Monza, whereas Monaco stays distinctive when it comes to setting. With a photographer’s tabard, you may watch the motion proper behind the limitations, which makes the trackside expertise completely distinctive – a private spotlight of the F1 season each single yr. You merely cannot get any nearer to the motion than that.
The Tifosi have fun through the Podium Ceremony
Picture by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Photos
Stuart Codling – Monza is an totally magnificent venue
With its parkland setting, whispering bushes, crumbling concrete banking, aged timing towers and supremely passionate followers, Monza merely can’t be surpassed for both historical past or environment. Stroll behind the grandstands and it’s straightforward to think about the likes of Fangio, Farina and Ascari roaring previous on the opposite facet. It’s an totally magnificent venue.
Environment should be inclusive, which is why I left Austria out of my prime 10 on account of safeguarding points and basic boorishness in latest seasons.
Jake Boxall-Legge – There’s simply one thing particular about Suzuka
Most of my colleagues have gone for Monza, however I am uniting with Ronald and choosing Suzuka for this. Monza has an distinctive environment and over a century’s value of historical past going for it – and but, there’s simply one thing particular about Suzuka. Monza is synonymous with Ferrari, and the sheen of Rosso Corsa all through the grandstands is reflective of that; Suzuka feels extra like a celebration of Method 1 as an entire, somewhat than only one group or driver. Even security automotive driver Bernd Maylander will get a banner.
Additional down my order, Spa-Francorchamps is a well-liked pilgrimage for followers all around the world, and Sao Paulo has a Senna-influenced magic to it – one which hit new peaks this yr with broad Latam assist for Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, plus honorary citizen Lewis Hamilton.
3. Location
The third criterion is the circuit’s wider location and its attraction, which is an integral a part of the expertise for followers and workers alike. What else does the grand prix host have to supply off the monitor?
Filip Cleeren – Melbourne simply edges Sao Paulo and Singapore
We’re extraordinarily privileged to journey to a few of the world’s nice cities, and Melbourne simply edges Sao Paulo and Singapore for me with its mixture of metropolis life and nature, its various meals scene and relaxed way of life. I moved to Barcelona after attending a Spanish Grand Prix method again when, and of all the opposite locations on the listing, Melbourne might be the opposite metropolis I may see myself relocate to.
What additionally helps is that Albert Park is correct in the midst of town, so followers can simply hop on the tram to get to the occasion. The excitement is even larger when Australia hosts the season opener, and F1 actually takes over the city throughout race week in a method it does in few different cities. It is necessary to protect conventional street programs, but it surely’s additionally not laborious to see why Liberty Media is eager on these vacation spot cities. The secret’s discovering the correct stability.
Stuart Codling – Austin hits the correct notes
Out of city however shut sufficient for that to not be an issue, COTA has a definite sense of place in addition to being in shut proximity to Austin’s enjoyable and bohemian metropolis. There’s most likely a contact of recency bias in me inserting it above Melbourne since I haven’t attended the Australian GP in ages.
One hallmark of Bernie Ecclestone’s reign was the migration in direction of white-elephant venues miles from wherever. But when Method 1 actually needs to develop its viewers, it must embrace the good world cities: that method attending a grand prix can develop into a part of a vacation and have a broader attraction. The Mexico GP is a good instance of a vacation spot race in a spot which is fascinating to go to.
Melbourne’s Albert Park is an immediate favorite for many people who find themselves fortunate to attend the Australian Grand Prix
Picture by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Photos
Ronald Vording – Why I am having fun with the US races
I’m the one one with two American cities in my prime three, and I really feel that requires some (or perhaps a whole lot of) clarification. I admit: when it comes to pure F1 experiences and with an old-school racing coronary heart, these venues definitely don’t belong on the prime. However on the subject of the broader area, I personally love spending some additional time in Florida, exploring the Florida Keys, or to go mountaineering within the nationwide parks of California and Nevada – or certainly, even the Grand Canyon. It makes these locations value visiting, similar to Japan, due to a few additional days in Tokyo, or Singapore, as a result of versatility of that metropolis.
However this a part of the rating might be probably the most tough one as a result of what about Budapest, Baku or Austria? If the previous few years have taught me something, it is that each one F1 locations (nicely, nearly all…) have their very own allure.
Jake Boxall-Legge – Everyone loves Melbourne
This was the simplest to choose – everyone loves Melbourne; a metropolis of sport, tradition, nice espresso, and wonderful individuals. The circuit’s location in the midst of town makes travelling to work a pleasure, with walks by means of Albert Park en route. And, for the reason that timetable is usually amenable to these on the monitor, there are possibilities to benefit from the metropolis’s choices of stay leisure and stellar culinary choices at evening.
Suzuka can also be enjoyable; since it is a lengthy journey out, it is wise to go just a few days early to discover Tokyo or Osaka earlier than shinkansen-ing it to Nagoya. Singapore and Montreal had been excessive on my listing too, largely for food-based causes; each journeys I ready for by watching the respective episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover. Montreal’s yearly site visitors nonsense simply put it behind Singapore. Plus, one wants to present a shout out to Budapest too – go for the race, keep for the plethora of eating places and palatial structure.
4. Circuit services
Our fourth class is the circuit’s services. How pleasant is it to spend time, watch the motion and work on the race monitor? Is it straightforward to get out and in? A transparent development emerges wherein F1’s latest venues are leaving Europe’s heartland within the mud…
Filip Cleeren – Crimson Bull Ring is a European oasis
It is a rating from a journalist’s perspective, so you may need to indulge is for valuing creature comforts like a spacious and conveniently positioned media centre that really overlooks the primary straight. That was once a given, however the media are step by step being elbowed out to make room for VIP areas. On a European continent that usually lags behind the flyaway races, Spielberg’s spectacular Crimson Bull Ring is a welcome oasis. Austin is second as a result of its glorious all-round services, whereas I am an enormous fan of having the ability to stroll into the circuit in Singapore.
Oleg Karpov – Austria is in a league of its personal
Hermann Tilke and his firm might get some criticism for monitor designs – most of the time, utterly unjustified, in my humble opinion – however the Aachen agency positively is aware of learn how to maintain circuit infrastructure. And the services at trendy tracks are only a night-and-day distinction in comparison with the great outdated Barcelonas and Spas, though a few of the historic tracks have been refurbished lately – and the brand new pit buildings at Silverstone or the latest one on the Hungaroring are positively nice. Nonetheless, the luxurious situations on the likes of Abu Dhabi or Qatar beat refurbished historic tracks.
However even in that class, the Crimson Bull Ring is sort of in a league of its personal – with journalists’ opinions most likely being biased just because the media centre on the Austrian monitor is a paradise, with a big panoramic view of your entire monitor from a superb working house.
Jake Boxall-Legge – That is the place the Center Jap races shine
Though there are respectable criticisms to be made in regards to the worth of a few of the Center Jap circuits – though these will be carried over in direction of many different venues on the F1 calendar – one can’t deny that the services are usually nice.
Bahrain kicked off the high-spend infrastructure with an enormous paddock and a villa for every group, however I feel Abu Dhabi tweaked it barely extra efficiently. The huge screens imply you need not injure your neck to search for for 2 hours, the media centre is correct within the thick of the paddock, there is a harbour for quiet contemplation, and the groups can all keep subsequent to the monitor as Yas Island hosts a plethora of lodges.
Most flyaway races rating excessive marks for his or her services whereas many European rounds battle to maintain up.
Picture by: Andrew Ferraro / LAT Photos through Getty Photos
Stuart Codling – Austin edges Mexico
I see Jake has joined Oleg’s glue-sniffing membership in placing Abu Dhabi prime of this listing! Yearly it feels as if this venue is internet hosting a grand prix for the primary time, such is the litany of rookie errors. You’ll be able to’t even get to the place the place you’re supposed to choose up your credentials with out being screamed at by a safety guard. I’ll move, thanks.
I’m not wedded to the necessity for an enormous window within the media centre overlooking the primary straight, therefore I charge Austin and Mexico above a number of venues which have higher views. Each are super-convenient for paddock entry, provide convivial environments, and serve up glorious native delicacies (these of vegetarian persuasion might take a distinct view).
In earlier years Mexico would have ranked above Austin for me on account of its superior espresso providing, however in 2025 they dropped the baristas in favour of three machines, solely one in all which was working at any given time. Sure, sure, first world issues…
Our total prime 10
| Rating | Race |
| 1 | Spielberg |
| 2 | Suzuka |
| 3 | Silverstone |
| 4 | Sao Paulo |
| 5 | Monza |
| 6 | Melbourne |
| 7 | Bahrain |
| 8 | Austin |
| 9 | Spa |
| 10= | Mexico |
| 10= | Singapore |
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