The 10 Strangest Race Track Corners Ever Created

Turn 8/9/10/11 – Baku City Circuit

Undoubtedly the oddest combination of corners in F1 right now, the twisty and incredibly narrow section at the Baku City Circuit is truly unique and definitely unusual. The circuit weaves its way past old buildings and the old town wall, which is why it’s so skinny!

Surprisingly we didn’t see any crashes there in F1 last year but it’s inevitable someone will lose it there one season.

Turn 13/14/15 – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Taking an F1 track through a sports stadium - sure, why not? Formula 1’s return to Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez saw the famous long and super-fast final corner ignored, in favour of a tight and twisty left-right-left section that goes through a baseball field. It creates a pretty cool atmosphere but is a weird part of race track.

This circuit can be used in a number of different layouts, one of which has a complete 90-degree, square-edged left-hander as its first turn. It’s then followed immediately by a long, seemingly never-ending right, so you can imagine the chaos it often causes on the opening lap of races.

Singapore Sling – Marina Bay Street Circuit

OK, so this one doesn’t actually exist anymore. But the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore once featured a strange, three-apex chicane which basically saw drivers weave their way around the kerbs and bounce over them in the process. It was slow and clumsy, although it did produce some bonkers moments.

Turn 17 – Korea International Circuit

This is a challenging corner but one that is weird for its exit. The long right-hander sees drivers hug the inside line, but if you’re diving into the pits, you have to slow down on the inside to make the entry point.

It’s an odd configuration and one that raised many concerns when F1 visited the track. Plus, drivers used to completely skip the Turn 18 kink and just drive straight over the kerb to open up the following straight.

Karussell – Nurburgring Nordschleife

Like Istanbul Park, the Nurburgring Nordschleife’s Karussell is strange because it’s so unique. It’s one of the slowest corners on the famous track and has become world renowned for its banking (which only makes up part of the corner), long radius and blind entry. It remains one of the toughest challenges in motorsport.

Sure, it’s a pretty awesome corner and one of the best from a Hermann Tilke-designed circuit. But it’s also a rather strange one too. There are very few four-apex, high-speed left-hand turns in motorsport and that makes Turn 8 at Istanbul Park really stand out – for a positive, instead of a negative.

Final chicane – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Over the years many fast corners have been tamed by the addition of a tight chicane beforehand. This is what happened to the fast, sweeping final right-hander at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. A slow chicane with high kerbs was installed and has completely ruined the flow of the last section of track.

Turn 8 – Beijing International Street Circuit

OK, so this circuit has never been raced on since its one appearance on the A1 GP calendar in 2006, but there’s good reason for that. Turn 8 is a horribly tight hairpin which the drivers could barely get around with full steering lock and caused various concerns. Changes were made for the race but it was still far from ideal and the whole weekend was a complete disaster.

Eau Rouge chicane – Spa-Francorchamps

Eau Rouge? A chicane? Since when? Well, this was only a temporary measure and was introduced in 1994 after the tragic death of Ayrton Senna earlier in the year. Many chicanes appeared on F1 circuits to slow the cars down but the one at Spa was probably the worst, ruining what is a truly iconic bend. It didn’t last long.

What are the strangest race track corners you’ve ever seen? Let us know in the comments!