8 Of The Oddest Tracks F1 Has Ever Raced On

1. Avus

The Avus track in Germany only hosted one race, in 1959, but it remains one of the strangest layouts F1 has seen. It was basically two main straights, with hairpins (one of them banked) at each end, and is a public road the rest of the time. Races still took place on it until 1998. It’s part of Autobahn 115 in Berlin.

2. Baku City Circuit

Undoubtedly the oddest F1 track on the current calendar, Azerbaijan joined in 2016 as host of the European Grand Prix. The Baku street circuit is unusual, partly due to an incredibly narrow and twisty section that passes the walls of the Old City. It has a mix of slow 90-degree corners and quick kinks.

This was basically a race track dropped into the car park of the famous Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas. It was a weird stop/start layout with quite a few hairpin turns. The location was also incredibly odd and the whole circuit, raced on from 1981-82, lacked character.

4. Montjuic Circuit

The Montjuic Circuit in Barcelona is one of the most challenging and unusual street tracks F1 has ever raced on. It was strange because the first and last sections were ridiculously fast and flowing, broken up by a twisty middle section. The track was incredibly dangerous and after four races in the late 60s and early 70s, it was dropped from F1.

5. Circuit de Monaco

OK, so the Monaco track is awesome. It’s one of the most famous races and tracks in the world. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s also pretty odd. Nelson Piquet once compared driving the track to riding a bicycle around your living room. Monaco is ridiculously tricky, tight and has the tightest hairpin in F1 history too.

6. Ain-Diab Circuit

The Ain-Diab Circuit is the only track in F1 history to host a Moroccan Grand Prix, with just one race taking place in the country. The 1958 race was on this odd road course, made up of straights and quick corners. There were long periods of flat-out driving and very few braking zones. Unusually for an F1 circuit, part of it was also located right next to the sea.

7. Fair Park

F1 raced in Dallas just once, because a number of problems – including the track continually breaking up due to the intense heat – disrupted the race weekend in 1984. The track itself was a weird mix of sharp, slow corners and bumpy straights.

The race is best known for Nigel Mansell collapsing from exhaustion while trying to push his Lotus across the finish line.

8. Zeltweg

Here’s another case of an F1 track from the early days being formed out of already existing tarmac. But in Zeltweg’s case, it was an airfield, rather than public roads. The only F1 race there took place in 1964 and never went back due to poor track surface. The layout itself wasn’t that great either, mainly featuring two slow hairpins and long straights.

Do you agree with our choices? What other weird tracks can you think of that F1 has raced at? Let us know in the comments.