One of Formula 1 circuit mega designer Herman Tilke’s newest projects is Flatrock Motorsports Park – a major new facility under construction in Tennessee, just over 70km directly West of the city of Knoxville.
Like the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, this multi-million dollar facility is being built to become a major entertainment destination hosting concerts, exhibitions and the like. But naturally of greater interest are the comprehensive motorsports facilities.
Much like Paul Ricard or COTA itself, Flatrock will boast a series of circuit layouts, including a 4.2km grand prix layout and several shorter configurations. But the most interesting circuit is unquestionably the endurance layout which runs the length of the entire facility. At a total of 10 kilometres in length, the longest Flatrock layout comfortably exceeds even that of Spa-Francorchamps, the longest circuit on the modern F1 calendar.
While Flatrock has not been tipped as a potential new venue for Formula 1, there are reportedly discussions about it hosting Moto GP and even IndyCar races in the future. But even if Formula 1 wanted to hold at race at Flatrock, the endurance layout would not be a viable option.
All current circuits that host grands prix must be certified by the FIA to be of Grade One status – meaning that the track layout, safety features and facilities are all of the highest possible standards. The FIA outlines that all Grade One circuits should be no longer than seven kilometres in length – with the modern Spa-Francorchamps circuit the longest Grade One track in the world, just four metres over that limit.
But in the early decades of the world championship, it was not uncommon to have circuits over seven kilometres in length – and sometimes even much longer. Here are all the circuits longer than seven kilometres that have held grands prix in the past – all of which are no longer used in Formula 1.
12 – Bremgarten – Swiss Grand Prix
Street circuit – 7.2km – 1950-54
Before motorsport was banned in Switzerland in reaction to the Le Mans tragedy of 1955, the Swiss Grand Prix featured on the calendar for the first five world championship seasons. Located in Bern, the beautiful circuit was set around public roads in the stunning countryside. Juan Manuel Fangio was the only driver to win the race more than once.
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11 – Porto – Portuguese Grand Prix
Street circuit – 7.5km – 1958, 1960
The first venue for the Portuguese Grand Prix, before F1’s visits to Estoril and Algarve, the Boavista street circuit in Porto featured a pair of long straights running along the harbourside. It held two grands prix with lap times well over two minutes in duration. The circuit was later revived to host World Touring Car Championship rounds using a heavily revised layout.
10 – Ain-Diab – Moroccan Grand Prix
Street circuit – 7.6km – 1958
The Moroccan Grand Prix appeared only once on the Formula 1 calendar back in 1958. The Ain-Diab street circuit in Casablanca wound its way around the north African coastal city with wide sweeping corners and an average lap speed that was slightly above average. Stirling Moss won the sole grand prix in 1958 which crowed Mike Hawthorn as world champion but also saw the crash which ultimately claimed the life of Stuart Lewis-Evans.
9 – Interlagos – Brazilian Grand Prix
Permanent circuit – 7.9km – 1973-77, 1979-80
Before the current, much loved version of Interlagos drastically but the original layout, the Sao Paolo circuit was a near-8km beast hich doubled back on itself. Rather than dipping down through the Senna Esses, the circuit continued on around the perimeter of the course at first. Instead of pulling right at Ferradura up the hill, the circuit instead turned left and ran up the current back straight in the wrong direction. The modern layout is easily one of the most successful revisions of a classic track.
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8 – Clermont-Ferrand – French Grand Prix
Street circuit – 8.0km – 1965, 1969-70, 1972
Much like the Rouen circuit which also hosted the French Grand Prix in the fifties and sixties, Clermont-Ferrand also wound its way around public roads in the French countryside. The circuit, called ‘Charade’, was much twistier than Rouen and the layout appears to have inspired the ‘Alsace’ track on Gran Turismo. In its final race in 1972, driver and future Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko suffered a serious eye injury when he was hit by a stone kicked up by a rival car ahead.
7 – AVUS – German Grand Prix
Street circuit – 8.3km – 1959
A unique circuit in Formula 1 history in every sense. The Automobil Verkehrs und Ubungsstrasse was nothing more than two extremely long straights followed by two hairpins – one of which featured extreme banking of 43 degrees. Unsurprisingly, its sole race in 1959 was the fastest grand prix in history at an average speed of 230kph until Dan Gurney won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps at 234kph. Last year, only Max Verstappen’s Italian Grand Prix victory was faster than AVUS’ sole race.
6 – Reims – French Grand Prix
Street circuit – 8.34km – 1950-51, 1953-54, 1956, 1958-61, 1963, 1966
One of many circuits to have hosted the French Grand Prix, Reims was definitely the longest. Hosting the event 11 times over the first 17 world championships, the eight kilometre course featured only a handful of corners – just five turns of note, in fact. Its long straights made it one of the fastest circuits on the calendar with average speeds around or over 200kph.
5 – Sebring – United States Grand Prix
Permanent circuit – 8.36km – 1959
One of most famous and punishing circuits in the United States was the host of the first ever US Grand Prix back in 1959. While the Indianapolis 500 was considered part of the world championship up to 1960, the former airfield was the first track to host a dedicated US Grand Prix. The Floridian track featured largely the same layout as used today, only a longer version. Jack Brabham sealed his first world title at its sole race.
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4 – Monza – Italian Grand Prix
Permanent circuit – 10km – 1955-56, 1960-61
The Monza circuit famous for being the fastest on the Formula 1 calendar is also historic for its famous oval. But the hallowed banked corners also formed part of the grand prix layout on four occasions in the mid fifties and early sixties. Forming a unique figure of eight layout that required drivers to effectively cross the pit straight twice on a single lap, it was the ‘Cathedral of Speed’ at its most daunting. F1 last used the configuration in 1961, when a dreadful crash on the run to Parabolica claimed the lives of Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators.
3 – Spa-Francorchamps – Belgian Grand Prix
Street circuit – 14.1km – 1950-56, 1958, 1960-68, 1970
The longest and perhaps most popular circuit on the current world championship calendar was once twice as long and even faster. Spa-Francorchamps used to be a 14km blast through the Ardennes countryside. While the track remained the same from the run down to Eau Rouge and Raidillon, the track continued at what is now Les Combes through public roads as extremely high speeds. With no downforce to speak of, corners like the Masta kink became legendary for the precision and bravery they demanded. The track eventually rejoined the modern layout at Blanchimont before La Source was the final corner.
2 – Nurburgring Nordschleife – German Grand Prix
Permanent circuit – 22.8km – 1951-54, 1956-58, 1961-76
No racing circuit in the world needs less of an introduction than the original Nurburgring – the Green Hell. Loved and feared in equal measure, the Nordschleife snaked through the Eifel mountains with an endless onslaught of challenging corners. It still does, of course – just not for Formula 1. After countless tragedies and the near death of Niki Lauda in 1976, the circuit was dropped from the calendar.
1 – Pescara – Pescara Grand Prix
Street circuit – 25.5km – 1957
The longest circuit ever to have hosted a grand prix, a lap of the Pescara circuit on the Adriatic coast of Italy measured over 25 kilometres. Connecting the three towns of Pescara, Cappelle sul Tavo and Montesilvano in a rough triangle shape, this coastal street circuit was effectively two extremely long straights connected by a snaking tour through the hills. With only the fastest drivers and cars getting their lap times under ten minutes, no grand prix circuit ever got longer than this.
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