Talk:List of Formula One circuits

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I corrected the coordinates of all of the current circuits in their respective pages and included the coordinate header to allow the use of the "Coordinates:" feature.--Ciroa 14:09, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

I noticed that the list included has only 64 circuits. The introductory text mentions that 65 tracks have hosted WDC races. I do not know why the discrepancy.--Ciroa 23:15, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I found that Le Mans - La Sarthe is missing from the list and added it. It hosted the 1967 French GP.--Ciroa 06:27, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

I've gone through a full list and found no missing entries apart from the Bugatti Circuit, which is now added.
There are a few thing that could be the cause of this:
  • The Nürburgring Nordschleife that hosted Grands Prix before 1976 was a completely different track to the Nürburgring that has hosted Grands Prix since 1984. There is only one Nürburgring entry on this list currently.
  • The Österreichring and A1-Ring are located at the same place but they differ in the actual course somewhat. It currently has two entries here, that is inconsistant when Nürburgring has only one.
  • The Indianapolis 500 (on the oval track) was counted as a Formula One race from 1950-1960, while the Indianapolis road course layout has hosted since 2000, about as much of a difference as the Österreichring and A1-Ring. This currently only has one entry here which only covers races since 2000.
In my opinion the Nürbringring Nordschleife, Nürburgring, Indianapolis Oval and Indianapolis Road Course should all have separate entries on this list, while the Österreichring and A1-Ring should be in the same entry, as they only differ slightly in course design, like many others on this list. - MTC 07:03, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
  • I corrected the number of GP's from 27 to 28 and modified the years from 1982-2006 to 1978-1986, 1988-2006 at Gilles Villeneuve entry.
  • What a track is:
I agree with MTC. The "kml" list I keep, with the coordinates of F1 tracks, locate the point that represents the track at "the inner side of the finish line". Thus, in my list I follow MTC recommendation, and have separate entries for Nürburgring and Nürburgring-Nordschlieffe and one entry for A1 Ring - Österreichring. In the "coordinates" list I keep, Indy is an exception, as its finish line has always been at the "brickyard".
I believe that the only definition of what an F1 circuit is, consistent with the present form of the article, is based on the "common site" where the race occurs. By common, I mean common for the potential readers of the article. I wouldn't touch the list much, it is well done.
For example, there is only one article in Wikipedia for Nürburgring Circuit, article that includes the actual layout and the Nordschliefe one. This is the way I see the track depicted in sites devoted to track layouts.
Another "encyclopedic example", racingcircuits.com, has only one entry for Nürburgring, Indy and Österreich, and at each entry there are differente images with the different layouts through the years, no matter what radical changes the "track" has sustained in time. Minute changes alter a track from the racing point of view, like the chicanes at Monza, so it would be hard to define a "track" based only on the layout (or only on the coordinates, like I do).
Besides, Nürburgring is not the only circuit whose layout has changed radically: older circuits, like Le Mans, that have hosted races for a century, have been altered enormously through the years and have "kept the name". I believe the readers of the article wouldn't expect different entries for Le Mans Grand Prix that keep some record of all these layout changes. Even Nürburgring had (1960's) the Nordschliefe and the current circuit (in its original version) joined in one big track, to add to the confusion.
However, the crucial point, I think, is that to follow MTC (and mine) advice we need different articles in Wikipedia for each track (one for Indy oval and other for Indy inner course, etcetera).
So, for the sake of simplicity, I propose to have as many tracks in this list as Wikipedia articles we have and let to the discussion at each track article decide what a "track name" is, based on its historical or otherwise, particular characteristics.
  • I had located the Bugatti Circuit under "Le Mans - Bugatti Circuit" in the letter "L", as I thought most people tends to look for the "common name" of the circuit. This is another thing I find a little strange in this article: there we have a "quasi-alphabetic" name list, where the Autodromo Nazionale, at Monza, is under the "M" (Monza, I guess) and the Autodromo Enzo y Dino Ferrari at Imola is under the "E" (again, I guess is Enzo). It is clear that the list is ordered with the reader in mind, as I said before.
It is Monza and Imola (under "M" and "I") or Autodromo Nazionale y Autodromo Enzo y Dino Ferrari (under "N" and "E")? Why then, the famous Interlagos is under the "J" as "Autodromo José Carlos Pace" and "Circuit Gilles Villeneuve" is under the "G"? In this list "Autodrom" and its derivates, or "Circuit" apparently does not count as part of the name.
Even some articles do not use the "official name": for example the Circuit Fernanda Pires da Silva Wikipedia article is under the name Estoril, the same way is ordered and mentioned in this list. Meanwhile, Magny-Cours is under the "M" in this list while its article has the title "Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours", its correct official name. Where do we put it? Under the "C" of circuit, the "N" of Nevers or the "M" of Magny?
I guess we could add a new column or heading with the "common name" ("common" for the readers of this article): Imola, Monza, Le Mans, Giles Villeneuve, Interlagos, Estoril, Magny-Cours etcetera and left the present "Name" under the heading of "Oficial circuit name", because that is the way the list seem to be ordered, in first place.
  • I'll wait for a while to correct the article, before following my own recommendations, provided there are no other suggestions.
After that I will join Österreichring with A1-Ring, as they have the same Wiki article and left a list with 64 tracks.
Besides that (perhaps) I'll include the common name column and order the list by that column (or better yet, I'll devote my time to other things if somebody does not agree). I believe this is the way to modify the less the present list.
Finally, I couldn't find a non-copyrighted image of the Bugatti Circuit, I hope somebody has time to draw it. The present article we have on it is a stub. --Ciroa 05:35, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] SVG-Maps

I find it great that all trackmaps are included, that they have a consistent style and legends. However I wanted to note, that it would be great if future versions could be done in SVG, so they are scalable. Imho I haven't found many ressources for scalable trackmaps. So this would be quite great. Dahie (talk) 08:18, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Valencia

Added Valencia Street Circuit as it is confirmed for 2008 John Hayes 14:37, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] street circuit

I adding marks on tipe of the track.The Tramp 21:23, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 2011

I'm not very happy with future dates in the table. There is - just - a case for adding 2008 for tracks which are in next year's published calendar, but nothing's a fact till it has happened! -- Ian Dalziel 10:19, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree. I think including future years in the "Season(s)" column opens the possibility for confusion regarding the "Total" column. Consider Albert Park: The "Season(s)" column says "1996-2008" and the "Total" column says "12". I can imagine a casual reader saying "1996-2008 - isn't the 13 races?". I'd like to see the "Season(s)" column split into two column: "Races which have already been held" (but with a better/shorted name) and "Planned/expected/contracted future races". I'd even consider putting current season races which haven't actually been held yet in the "future" column, and then move them across to the "races which have been held" column once the race is run. DH85868993 10:29, 22 September 2007 (UTC)