Lewis Hamilton has revealed his annoyance with modern street circuits looking ahead to the European Grand Prix.
F1 makes its first trip to Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku this weekend, and the new track, which winds its way through the new and old parts of the city, has been given a mixed reception.
It will undoubtedly have a signature section running uphill past a castle in what is one of the narrowest parts of any circuit on the F1 calendar.
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However, much of the circuit is on wide open roads with the main straight basically running for over two kilometres despite having three labelled ‘corners’.
As a result, the circuit has been compared to recent street-style venues such as Sochi and the previous venue for the European Grand Prix in Valencia. But neither could be considered favourites of many in F1.
Indeed, the lack of a traditional street circuit challenge left world champion Lewis Hamilton rather flat about the sport’s newest track after trying it on the simulator.
“I don’t really know what to say about it,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com. “It’s just another new track.
“There’s one very tight spot on it. It’s got a very long straight… I don’t really have a lot to say about it.
“It’s super wide in some places, as wide as a motorway almost in some places!
“But hopefully it will be fun. I heard the weather will be good, and hopefully they’ll have a good turn out there.”
It was the element of openness the Briton referred to when using the ‘motorway’ comparison that also led the Mercedes driver to question the design philosophy of most street circuits introduced since 2008.
“Monaco is the street circuit. And they don’t make them like that. I don’t why they don’t, but why don’t they just make street circuits like they used to? I don’t understand,” he said.
While Monaco is one of the more extreme versions of a street track, due to a lack of development space and the history behind the circuit, it’s true to say none of the modern equivalents have really come close.
Over time Formula 1 has raced on other famous street circuits in Adelaide, Detroit and Long Beach, to name a few all, of which had that very temporary feel. Just the thought of even trying to race cars around those streets would have been preposterous in the planning stage.
Yet since a push was made to bring more urban venues to the calendar, starting with the introduction of Valencia and Singapore in 2008, only really the latter has managed to earn the respect of fans and drivers alike.
But even Marina Bay isn’t an absolute old-school street circuit, as Hamilton was referring to. Most corners have an escape road and are wide enough for a reasonable margin for error before a concrete wall arrives.
Then there’s Sochi, the fact that it’s a tarmac paradise and walls actually line the circuit at some places do lead most to regard as a street circuit, but it has run-off areas at every corner so really only the bland variety of turns give it that temporary feel.
In reality, Monaco wouldn’t be permitted under modern FIA safety standards, it was why some corners were opened up over the years. Therefore the likelihood of another street circuit along a similar design is highly unlikely.
Of course it’s sad, the last two races in Monte Carlo and Montreal have been more enjoyable because the margin for error at those venues being much lower than most. But in the 21st Century, the number of times a driver’s bravery can be the difference between victory or a bag of carbon fibre is only going to get smaller.
