Formula E has made a name for itself by hosting races in the streets of some of the world’s most iconic cities and Formula 1 is slowly following suit.
Almost a third of the 2024 F1 World Championship is set to take place on a street circuit.
Formula E has almost exclusively adopted temporary city-centre street circuits since its inception back in 2014, all in an attempt to give the sport a greater chance to survive by accessing new audiences in densely populated areas.
F1 on the other hand has been around for 70 years and has built up immense popularity during that time.
However, familiarity breeds contempt and some classic race tracks have been on the F1 calendar for decades, in that time teams have become experts in extracting all the possible advantages.
This shift to street circuits is possibly an attempt to create more variety and uncertainty on a race weekend after the sport faced major criticism in recent seasons for being ‘boring’.
However, Max Verstappen has not shied away from airing his frustration of the rise in more street tracks, during the Las Vegas Grand Prix last year he threw shade at the choice of circuit.
He said: “I think naturally already for me, a street circuit is not very exciting – especially with these new cars. They’re just too heavy. Especially also then when you have low grip, that doesn’t help.”
“Of course the scenery will look great, driving through the Strip. But the layout itself is not the most exciting. An F1 car’s a lot more fun with a lot of high speed corners and I think around there are not that many high speed corners.”
There will seven street circuits on the 2024 F1 calendar and later Madrid will replace Barcelona as the host of the Spanish GP for the 2026 season.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been the home of the Spanish GP since 1991, and although it is understood discussions are ongoing with Barcelona over its future in the sport, this could spell trouble for classic race tracks.
Damon Hill, the 1996 Formula 1 World Champion, isn’t the biggest fan of the addition of Madrid to the calendar.
Hill told Sky Sports F1 podcast: “This kind of move towards a tighter twisty circuit is going in the direction of Formula E.
“I hope that’s not an indication of a concession made towards the fact that these cars are going to have to be down on performance compared to where they are now.
“I think we have to really be sure that we are not moving entirely towards a kind of very tight twisty restricted race track.
“Which doesn’t allow Formula 1 cars to do what they have been famous for doing, which has been to stretch their legs on the big tracks like Silverstone, Spa, Monza and Suzuka where they really show what they are capable of doing.”
Under the current regulations the cars have 18-inch wheels and are 200 kg heavier than they were 20 years ago, meaning the current models are the biggest they have ever been.
The end result is often a lack of competitiveness with many of the street races becoming processions, overtaking can be virtually impossible and the majority of racing takes place in qualifying.
However, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has previously expressed his love of more street circuits, the seven time world champion had his say after the Las Vegas GP: “This has provided a better race than most of the tracks we go to.
“There’s lots of great overtaking opportunities and I think for all those who were so negative about the weekend, saying it was all about show blah blah blah, I think Vegas proved them wrong.”
