Twenty-one circuits, twenty-one arguments

Albert Park

Melbourne, Australia

Fast, flowing, clockwise. A semi-street parkland circuit around Melbourne's Albert Park lake: 5.278 km and 14 corners after the 2022 reprofiling. The smoother surface and faster layout reward an aero-efficient car that can string together the high-speed sections, with walls close in places and a real penalty for the smallest mistake.

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Circuit of the Americas

Austin, USA

A modern, clockwise mix in the Texas hill country: 5.513 km and 20 corners across roughly 308.4 km. A steep uphill run to the blind Turn 1 hairpin opens the lap, then a fast Maggotts-and-Becketts-style esses sequence, slower technical corners and a long back straight. The surface is famously bumpy, and the setup leans medium-high downforce to balance the high-speed esses against a heavy braking circuit.

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Baku City Circuit

Baku, Azerbaijan

Fast, narrow, clockwise. A street circuit through the heart of Baku: 6.003 km and 20 corners. A circuit of contrasts, pairing a flat-out run of roughly 2.2 km past the line with a tight, twisting medieval castle section. Top speeds touch 340 km/h and beyond, so teams run low downforce and accept a compromise through the slow corners, where traction and precision between the walls decide the lap.

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Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Barcelona, Spain

High-downforce, aero-reference, clockwise near Barcelona: around 4.657 km, a long front straight then a demanding mix of high, medium and low-speed corners over 66 laps. The classic test track of Formula 1, where aerodynamic load decides the lap, the surface is abrasive and tyre wear is high. Hard to follow, so qualifying and tyre management carry real weight.

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Hungaroring

Mogyoród, Hungary

Tight, twisty, clockwise. A high-downforce lap on the edge of Budapest: 4.381 km and 14 corners. Often called Monaco without walls, it is a stop-start, traction-led layout where mechanical grip and a planted rear matter more than top speed. Overtaking is famously hard, so qualifying carries huge weight, and the summer heat tends to push tyres and drivers alike.

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Interlagos

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Short, lumpy, anti-clockwise. One of the great short laps on the calendar: 4.309 km, 15 corners across roughly 305.9 km. The Senna S plunges downhill into heavy braking and the best overtaking spot, Juncao fires the cars onto a long uphill straight, and an abrasive, bumpy surface chews tyres over a stint. The weather is famously changeable, and a damp Interlagos can rewrite the order.

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Interlagos

São Paulo, Brazil

Short, lumpy, anti-clockwise. A circuit that rewards traction over outright pace, and weather changes more than tyre strategies do. The most-overtaking-prone race of the season for the last decade.

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Lusail International Circuit

Lusail, Qatar

Fast, flowing, clockwise. A floodlit desert race north of Doha: 5.419 km, 16 corners run under the lights. A sequence of fast, sweeping medium-to-high-speed corners loads the tyres with severe lateral energy, enough to have forced mandatory stint limits, on a smooth surface in the cool desert night.

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Madring

Madrid, Spain

New for 2026, clockwise. A semi-street circuit around the IFEMA exhibition centre in Madrid, roughly 5.47 km over an approximate 57 laps, mixing street-style sections with a banked turn. All figures here are provisional and illustrative until the final layout, corner count and timing data are published. The character points to a medium-high downforce, medium-power test with a distinctive banked section that sets it apart from a conventional street track.

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Marina Bay Street Circuit

Singapore

Tight, hot, clockwise. Formula 1's original night race through the streets of Singapore: roughly 4.94 km on the post-2023 layout with 19 corners. A high-downforce circuit run after dark in heavy heat and humidity, bumpy between the barriers and physically brutal over a long race. Overtaking is hard, the safety car is almost a given, and track position is gold.

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Miami International Autodrome

Miami Gardens, USA

Fast, clockwise, parkland street mix around Hard Rock Stadium: 5.412 km and 19 corners over 57 laps. Three long full-throttle runs reward straight-line speed and traction, while a tight, technical chicane section under the highway at Turns 13 to 16 asks for low-speed precision. Hot and humid, with low grip in places, so the setup is a compromise between top speed and the slow stuff.

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Circuit de Monaco

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Maximum downforce, lowest average speed of the year, clockwise through the streets of Monte Carlo: 3.337 km and 19 corners over 78 laps, the shortest race distance on the calendar at around 260 km. Barriers everywhere, overtaking near impossible, and a lap defined by precision and bravery. Qualifying is almost everything, with the Grand Hairpin the slowest corner in the sport.

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Monza

Monza, Italy

Fast, low-drag, clockwise. The Temple of Speed in the royal park north of Milan: 5.793 km and 11 corners. The lowest-downforce lap of the year, with the highest top speeds and long full-throttle straights split by heavy-braking chicanes. Engine power and low drag are everything here, with the Lesmos, Ascari and the long Parabolica rewarding precision at very high speed.

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Red Bull Ring

Spielberg, Austria

Short, sharp, clockwise. The fastest lap on the calendar by the clock at just over 64 seconds, ten corners packed into 4.318 km of hillside. Low downforce, big power-unit demands at altitude, and traction that decides everything out of the slow rights.

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Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Mexico City, Mexico

High and fast, clockwise. The highest circuit on the calendar at around 2,240 m: 4.304 km, 17 corners across roughly 305.4 km. The thin air is the defining trait. Cars run maximum wing yet still make little downforce, the power unit and cooling are stressed all weekend, and the very long main straight produces huge top speeds and heavy slipstreaming before the tight stadium section through the Foro Sol.

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Shanghai International Circuit

Shanghai, China

Fast, distinctive, clockwise. The Shanghai International Circuit opens with the tightening Turn 1-2-3 spiral and runs a very long back straight into one of the heaviest braking zones of the year at Turn 14: 5.451 km and 16 corners. Braking stability, tyre management and straight-line speed decide the weekend, with high front-left energy through the long opening corners.

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Silverstone

Silverstone, England

Fast, flowing, clockwise. The home of Formula 1 since the very first World Championship race in 1950: 5.891 km and 18 corners across an old airfield. High downforce, high lateral load, and a signature run through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel that is one of the fastest corner sequences in the sport.

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Spa-Francorchamps

Stavelot, Belgium

Long, fast, clockwise. The longest lap on the calendar through the Ardennes forest: 7.004 km, around 19 corners with roughly 100 m of elevation change. A power and high-speed circuit where the climb through Eau Rouge and Raidillon onto the Kemmel straight rewards engine power and low drag, while the middle sector asks for downforce, so the whole setup is a compromise. The weather is famously its own variable.

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Suzuka

Suzuka, Japan

Fast, flowing, clockwise. A driver's favourite and one of the great tests on the calendar, Suzuka's unique figure-of-eight layout flows from the high-speed Esses through the Degner curves, Spoon and the legendary 130R: 5.807 km and 18 corners. High downforce and a precise aero balance are everything, and the lateral load through the fast corners drives heavy tyre wear.

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Las Vegas Strip Circuit

Las Vegas, United States

Fast, low-downforce, clockwise. A night street race down the Las Vegas Strip: 6.201 km and 17 corners run under the lights. A very long blast along Las Vegas Boulevard sends top speeds past 340 km/h, while cold desert night temperatures make tyre warm-up and graining the defining challenge.

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Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Montreal, Canada

Low-drag, stop-and-go, clockwise on the Ile Notre-Dame: 4.361 km and 14 corners over 70 laps. Long straights feed heavy-braking chicanes where the brakes and traction decide the lap, and the walls sit close, none more famous than the Wall of Champions at the final chicane. A low-to-medium downforce circuit that punishes a lock-up and rewards braking stability.

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Yas Marina Circuit

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Mixed, flowing, clockwise. The traditional season finale, run from twilight into the night: 5.281 km and 16 corners on the revised post-2021 layout. A mix of long straights and flowing corners on a smooth, low-degradation surface, with a track-temperature drop through the evening that shifts the balance across the race.

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Zandvoort

Zandvoort, Netherlands

Flowing, banked, clockwise. A high-downforce lap through the coastal dunes: 4.259 km and 14 corners. The signature features are the banked Hugenholtz at Turn 3 and the steeply banked final corner that fires the cars onto the pit straight. Flowing and old-school, it is hard to follow through, and coastal wind and drifting sand can shift grip from one session to the next.

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