The best urban race tracks

Today there are plenty of race tracks to test the limits of the best racers. There are some amazing street circuits on the list, including the first for F1 in Vietnam and a stunning circuit around Baku. Together with https://xlautony.com/, let’s take a look at the world’s top tracks.

Hanoi, Vietnam

The street circuit, which has hosted Formula One for almost 100 years, is the exact opposite of the same road in Monaco. It was created especially for 2020. The circuit is a mixture of public and newly built roads, and as with the others, it is surrounded by fences and barriers, with less run-off than on conventional tracks.

We have yet to see the first battles in Hanoi, but with long straights, high speeds and the aforementioned lack of margin for error we should expect the action to be fast and furious.

Baku, Azerbaijan

Baku City Circuit first appeared on the F1 calendar in 2017, but it’s far from a modern creation, and its inclusion on the event calendar has provided some terrific racing over the past few years. The circuit stands out for a number of reasons, not least because of its stunning location, which wraps around the ancient city of Baku.

While the backdrop can be serene, the race shows the maximum – a speed limit of around 360km/h, making Baku the location with the fastest urban circuit. Among the collisions and crashes of the first Grand Prix of 2017, dotted with incidents, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Daniel Riccardo came out on top, and the subsequent races proved just as thrilling.

Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore

The Marina Bay Street Circuit stands out as the only night track where drivers race through the streets of Singapore in incredibly bright overhead lights, and the result is a spectacular spectacle.

Night racing is not the only thing that makes this circuit stand out as something special. It’s also the only circuit with a floating grandstand where the cars are actually driven underneath the spectators. The circuit’s bumpy finish line complements the event, causing huge streams of sparkle reminiscent of the 1980s, and it remains one of the most challenging circuits for drivers.

Monaco

“The ‘grandmother’ of all street circuits is, of course, Monaco: literally, as it has been in operation since 1929. The track was invented by Anthony Noguez, whose memory is memorialised by the fact that the last corner of the circuit is named after him.

To get a sense of just how crazy the Monaco road is, you can just look at one stunning lap. It wasn’t accelerated as it simply wasn’t needed.

Macau, China

It’s no coincidence that the list of Macau winners includes names like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. The 6.12km circuit, which winds around the former Portuguese colony, is incredibly unforgiving thanks to a tricky cocktail of high speeds, slippery surfaces and barriers near the track that form immovable objects to meet insurmountable forces. This is probably the grandest street course currently in use, but with no margin for error.