P1 with Matt and Tommy - These F1 circuits NEED to make a comeback

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

This month's unfortunate race cancellations got us thinking about some of the best circuits not currently on the F1 calendar. So join us as we chat about what tracks we'd love to see back on the calendar and why we'd love to see F1 head to some amazing new places. Sign up to our Patreon for just $5 a month! You'll get access to every P1 episode ad-free, extended versions of every 2026 race review, early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommyFollow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. You thought we'd disappeared. Oh no. Oh no. Yes, it might well be spring break, but we need to talk about Formula One because we love Formula One very much. And I think this is a very important topic, Tommy. Circuits are what, are what, it's the lifeblood of Formula One.

You know, you have to race around good circuits in order to hopefully have good racing. and there are some that are missing off this calendar, some that might be quite obvious to people that have watched Formula One for a while, but some that might not be as obvious. How are you feeling about this one, sir? I'm looking forward to it, yeah, F1 circuits. It's that kind of thing, isn't it? Where in recent years, there's always been that worry about classic circuits

dropping off the calendar. We've had a few recently, you know, and there's always that worry of these mega circuits that are appearing. There's that one in Saudi Arabia that they've started to build that looks almost like something out of Mario Kart, which is maybe fitting for the new Formula One. But yeah, you want to keep classic circuits on there as well that provide good racing and there's a lot to pick from.

There certainly is. So why don't we go through it like this? Okay, so I will pick a track. You will pick a track, Tommy. Together we're going to come together as a track. We're going to come together as a track. We're going to combine. ourselves to create a track.

No, but we've both got one that we've agreed with pre-recording, haven't we, to talk about as well, Tommy. And then we've also got lots of you to come in with questions, speak about certain circuits that you love, and then we will discuss those as well. So, why don't we start, Tommy,

with the one that we unanimously agree with, that needs to come back. And that Formula One circuit is Sapang, Malaysia. There is no debate. There are no notes in the negative side to talk about when you talk about Sopang.

It is just such a phenomenal track. If you are unaware of the track, firstly, go and have a little look. Go load it up on the F1 game. That's where I, it's where the love came. Go load it up on F1, 1999. No, you can get it.

You can get it on a more modern one. Yeah, yeah, it will be. Because I used to race on it. Back in the day, Tommy, when that was league race. 2017 was the last race, I believe. I mean, you say you believe. You know that full well because you are. Because I mourn about it every day.

But yeah, it's been gone for quite some time. And there are reasons around government funding, as far as I'm aware, as to why this is not coming back anytime soon. Of course, you know, this is both, we will consider the actual possibility of it coming back. But also, you know, we can live in Dreamland. But for this circuit, like, it was. It was just brilliant.

The first couple of corners, kind of like a less extreme China, first couple of corners, you'd have to say. And it always gave that great side-by-side action into the right and then the left, which allowed for great overtaken opportunities, not just on lap one,

but also throughout the race. You also had heavy braking zones, none less than the one around the final corner, which I think gave us some great racing. And I would love to see modern-day Formula One cars around this circuit because I think it's wide enough as well in the right areas to be able to really give the action that we deserve. So for me, Sopang is right up there probably as number one of what I would bring back. Yeah, definitely. It's number one for me as well. And we get asked

this question, a lot of the track would bring back. And it's always Sopang, we'll go into some other picks from us, as you say later. But Sopang just delivered almost like in an era where overtake was so difficult. And even in years gone by before DRS and things like that, So Pang still delivered this great action. We got YoYo Racing before YoYo Racing was even a thing because they could switch back and actually legitimate passing and repassing, where you could dive into turn 1 and then it would put you offline,

and then you'd go back into that corner. And something that we did that video with Alex Albin, and it was absolutely fascinating to hear him talk about why certain tracks work. And their toilets, of course. And their toilets, of course, which was very important. You will not have a clue what I'm talking about if you haven't seen that video. You must have seen it. It's great.

The toilet quality. It was great, chat. But Sopang is another one that he mentioned, is it's all about being able to, particularly in years gone by, get rid of that dirty air. And as soon as you get different lines, you can swap into corners. And that is what made something like Interlagos. so good. So Sopang, going into that first corner where you could, it was so wide, the other person's then compromise, you switch back again, then you have this amazing run down to another

hairpin, which allowed for overtaking. It was absolutely brilliant. And I'm gutted that it got dropped off the calendar because for all the talk of these new circuits don't provide great racing and maybe some people think they're a bit soulless and they're lacking excitement. That was a modern circuit designed by Herman Tilke, who's had a lot of criticism, that everyone loved and provide absolutely brilliant racing. Modern circuit did sometimes struggle with a drain cover. That's something that obliterated Grosjeon's Lotus, if I'm not mistaken? Well, that was Bernie Eccleston as well, would want it. The race delayed to help European audiences, but then there would always be a monsoon every day.

which is another factor a certain time that it was basically like spa in the weather that you could just randomly get at this circuit as well so it provided everything you didn't know whether you're going to get a wet quality

I think there's an amazing Sebastian Vettel app if I'm not mistaken around there in in the wet but you know there's so many factors that just make this circuit the number one on our list to come back but I know for a fact that there are many challenges in order to bring it back because it's been almost 10 years

now since we last saw it on the calendar. So big love to Sapang, please bring it back, however possible. Thank you so much. Tommy, why don't we now go to a circuit that you have selected to put on this list? Yeah, so I've gone for the Buda International Circuit in India. Again, another circuit that was that kind of mid-2000s-2010s era that I think missed the boat with Drive to Survive. do wonder had they been a little bit later to the game when Formula One was booming like now,

that they would have survived and been able to continue, although there is talk about it potentially coming back, and they've done things like MotoGP racing there in not too recent years. But it's another circuit that I think is so well suited to modern F1, although the super clipping down that straight might be something to be desired. Sorry, I mentioned it. How have you said that word? I thought we were safe.

We're talking about circuits. Okay, but we are. So this is interesting, though, because... My dad is ringing me. And I'm going to get his opinion on... I don't know what he's ringing me for. Brant's hatch. I'm considering he's going to say Brunt Hatch.

Hi, Dad. You're outside. Well, that's interesting because I'm mid-podcast. That's okay. What did you need? Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah Okay

Yeah Are you sure? Okay Well I'm sorry that I'm having to I mean you don't live too far away So you know It's not like you've driven two hours

But we're talking about F1 circuits That we would bring back And Seeing as you've rung me right now What would be one circuit You would bring back on the F1 calendar? Oh Brands fact

I said it I literally predicted it Incredible Tommy's predicted that from a mile off. So yeah, Brand's hatch. Okay.

Well, that's the only one I can think of off. I knew he's going to say Branshatch. I mean, yeah, it's a standard staple,

isn't it? Okay, thanks, Dad. Sorry, I can't see you right now. All right. All right. Love you.

Bye. Incredible. Got a love. Got a love just my dad turning up out of the blue. Not, I'm on my way

or anything like that. Just slightly disappointing that normally when your dad calls it's because someone's disqualified or there's some breaking news,

you know, maybe, you know, some crazy thing had happened but but he wanted me to look in his engine cover instead and like and I'm like what I don't know just because I like Formula One I don't know you know what goes on in normal cars yeah my car's super clipping you need to no sorry I said it again okay so India right India the Indian Grand Prix circuit yeah a great track again has that that kind of same vibe as the Pang where you've got long straights into heavy braking zone, which we know, but then also

the final sector, some incredible flowing, flowing corners. I remember, you know, Sebastian Vettel in that newie Red Bull beast of a car would just fly round the kind of fast section. It looked absolutely amazing, turn 10 and 11, kind of this like sweeping long corner that's maybe almost like a turkey turn 8 kind of vibe. but the other way. And yeah, really, really cool track and one that I hope we see back at some point because I think it would be really well suited to modern F1.

I think so as well. I'm in complete agreement. I think it's a circuit that was perhaps even underappreciated when we did have it. I don't think it got the amount of hype that it deserved as a circuit. We were kind of, I don't know, in an era of Formula One where, I guess we didn't get great racing most places we went to and even if it was a great circuit like India

I don't know if I remember particular bangers there when we were there back in the day but that was more testament and the reason was because of the Formula One cars themselves Hamilton and Massa having one of the many collisions that year is one of my long term memories of that they just constantly came together one of those years wasn't it? It was when Hamilton just joined

wasn't it? It's 2011. It was 2011. They were always colliding. But yeah, India, for sure, I'm in complete agreement. I think it's a great circuit. I have a sort of, again, all of my track knowledge comes from playing the F1 game. And I have a pretty good recollection of it.

How good they would be. I know they'd be great down the straight. I can't remember how wide it was in the middle part of the lap. But it's still a circuit that I think deserves to be on the calendar, not purely just because of the circuit, but I think India deserves a racetrack as well. So in complete agreement when it comes to that. Now my circuit that I am putting on the table,

and no, I am not trying to just get Ws from everybody because I know that everybody's going to agree with it, but it is, of course, Turkey. Now, Turkey, we have seen not too long ago when we had the COVID calendar. And it's a circuit that is just stone-compet. old banger. It's just a circuit that, again, similar to Sopang, always tended to deliver.

We had some very strange racing during COVID, especially when they did the track resurfacing, and it was essentially an ice rink, which was definitely made for strange viewing. Yeah, are you going for the Turkish Grand Prix with the ice rink or normal? No, I felt like that was a bit silly. That was ridiculous. That was when we were talking about slick intermediates and things like that. weren't we it was a unique experience. Yeah, Bottas won't remember that one would he? No, he had the worst race of his life, I think, around there. But then actually didn't he win? He won, didn't he? Yeah, the year after. So he went, he had that absolutely horrendous race. And then there was all these questions of can Bottas do well in the wet? And then he just brilliantly won the race the next year. So good time. There you go. Was it dry that time? No, it was a wet race. Was it wet? I'm sure it was. Goodness. Bottas. Was unfamiliar with you? Well, I wasn't unfamiliar. I've always been a botas. So yeah, Turkey is 100% right up there, probably just behind Sepang.

It's, you know, turn 8 is phenomenal. How phenomenal it would be watching them go around it in these years? I'm not so sure because I think the one of the incredible things to watch at Istanbul, that circuit was the cars on the absolute ragged edge round turn eight, the triple left hander. was it just known as one turn or was it technically three but everyone called it turn eight because I feel like it was one turn it was just called turn eight even though crazy nowadays Austria with the tiniest kink in a straight and they're like that's a corner

yeah exactly because there's four there's essentially four kinks in the straight but it's just turn eight whereas yeah Austria like you say and I think when they do Moto GP it counts as a corner so then they add the the terms into it whereas maybe because turkey was never used for me motorcycle racing, maybe that's why that it's just... It made absolutely no sense when you compare to other Formula One circuits. But I think that's...

I'm holding on to those memories of... Was it, again, was it Red Bull where they were... Were they using DR... They were opening DRS around it or something? Yeah, yeah. There was something... Because that was when you could use DRS

wherever you wanted, wasn't it, essentially. And it was such an incredible thing to see the Red Bull going around that corner with the rear wing open and stuff like that. whereas now they might be a little bit more planted, well, I guess 2025 in particular, 26, they're wrestling the car a little bit more, but maybe a tiny bit of glimmer would come off of that because of the cars that we have now, but I still think it's a great circuit with long straits and heavy braking zones. Indeed. I think it's that perfect level a bit like Sopang and India to it to a certain extent where you still want a mix of corners and sometimes you can. can have a track where there's loads of amazing, exciting high-speed corners,

but it doesn't deliver great racing. Whereas this, you know, we mentioned turn eight, and that's like the big memory. I also remember, you know, that brilliant battle with Perez and Hamilton, where they're going through 12, 13, 14, and almost like a mini version of Sapang where they can switch back into every corner. And you saw that a lot in the track because you have that amazing run from turn 10 to turn 12 where there's the slight kink to the right they they kind of slip through them all down and then you dive into that corner and then yeah you can i love watching basically the switchbacks and

that's maybe no surprise why we picked sapang in the in the first place tommy likes racing news just in shock yeah but that's what we watch formula on for and it delivers the most excitement so i'd love uh turkey to come back because it's not just turn 8 which is a brilliant turn, but the rest of it actually genuinely provides really good, exciting racing as well, and can provide great overtaking, which is what we want to see in Formula One.

You want lots of overtaking, but you still want to see the cars provide good action and have exciting turns as well, and Turkey has the best of both, I think. It has character. However you can describe character, right, it's difficult.

It's difficult to really pinpoint that. You just look at certain circuits and you go, that has character. And I guess maybe it's this man-made. I know they're all kind of man-made. But, you know, like some of them are so polished nowadays and so pristine that it doesn't feel like it's a proper race. I don't know. It's amazing how the nostalgia, though, of it changes. Whereas I think, you know, had Twitter and stuff, F-1 Twitter existed back in the days of like Sir Pang joining the calendar, it's like, why are we going to,

Malaysia to race. Like, oh, what's, what's the point? And then, and then it's kind of gone and come back. And it's like, oh, this is, this is amazing. Like, we love this, this circuit. And I think that some of these circuits, whenever there's a new circuit, there's always a little bit of skepticism. I think Vegas is a perfect example of like the, the kind of worry towards that and then how, how it ended up providing great racing. But Turkey, yeah, at the time, maybe was a little bit like, oh, you know, this is an unusual kind of spot for a Formula One race, kind of in the middle of nowhere in Istanbul. I think it became a car park or a car dealership or something for a while. And there was talk of had it been. Exactly. Has it been destroyed? But then, yeah, it did make that return. And there's also heavily rumoured that it might come back, which is, please, would be amazing.

Make it happen. We need it. We need these iconic circuits to come back to add some flavor to the calendar once more. Question. Right. Well, not question. Comments. Suggestions.

Whatever it might be. The first one comes in from P1 Patreon member Piper MZ Mimic X. Kailami, because it'd be nice to have F1 races on every continent, excluding Antarctica, of course. I'm in front of the penguin race going. Yeah, hell yeah. Let's do it. Kailami, if you are unaware, is an absolute. banging South African circuit, which I don't know what the current status is, because there have

been moments, haven't there, where they've turned it into a tier one circuit, and they've tried to make it as ready as possible for Formula One, and it looks so cool. Back to my previous point about character, this one, oh my God, I'd love to see it in Formula One, and I completely agree as well that having an F1 race on every continent, that's, you know, it's a world championship so it really needs to happen but it is such a cool circuit that I would be so excited if this was announced absolutely I mean one of the turns is called the crocodiles if that's not a reason to have a racetrack there is like a crocodile mouth or is it a crocodile tail I don't know it's just called the crocodiles what a great turn name but it is a very cool circuit I just looked

it is grade two there was talk of it basically being upgraded. We would love to see it. There's been a lot of talk about we need a race in Africa and I do completely agree. I would like them to race here rather than making some purpose, like a brand new circuit somewhere else because you've got a great circuit here with history. You know, they've raced there in the past, not just in, you know, the kind of mid-90s way back,

a slightly different circuit but you know they were racing there in the 60s and 70s as well so there's great history there it's a really suitable circuit for Formula 1 just needs a little bit of upgrading but I think it would be an incredibly exciting

circuit you're just looking at it fast sweeping corners with again heavy braking zones and stuff for overtaking so it's what we need I love as well how there is a corner which is just off of start finish line and it is the tiny it's like Austria where you have the tiny little kink

and it's called the kink as turn one so turn two is actually the first breaking zone and also I'm reading that the and this might well have been updated since then but the grade the grade two that they have expired at the end of last year in August last year so whether that means anything you to upgrade the toilets yes that's that's what's stopping them from being a grade one. Alex Alphan's had a word. Exactly. So, yeah, we'd love to see this one on the circuit,

but it needs a bit of upgrades. Yeah, I wonder what happened to the grade one, sort of rumours and chat that had initially and quite heavily been spoken about, I would say. So, yeah, Kyle Lamy is a great shout. Another one from P1 Patreon, Kieran slash mega. If it counts, Barrain Outer Loop.

If it doesn't count, Micello. Okay, let's talk about Bahrain outer loop. Does it count? No, because... It was a way to get two different races, wasn't it? Yeah. So the outer loop is the short circuit, right? Barring short, yeah. Yeah, because I'm always...

Because I can see how some confusion might be here where we're talking about the old Bahrain. There was that terrible one that they did in 2010. I was horrific. Where they extended it. It was called Bahrain Endurance, and they added it. And it was an endurance for everybody. It was.

It was an awful, awful circuit where if you are unaware, they added, it was basically the endurance layer, which has an extra section added to it. And the thing, particularly in that era of Formula One, you don't want these slow, clumsy corners because it just separated the cars and basically meant there was so much dirty air and stuff. And that was just what it did. So, Bahrain is a great circuit anyway, I think. it has provided some really good action

and it's become that race that I think you do look forward to now because you know it is going to provide some good action which is crazy to think. But the outer loop, I'm still unsure whether it was kind of almost good luck that you had that crazy race with George Russell, the excitement of him being in the Mercedes, the chaos of the safety car, which meant that they dropped back.

Because until then, maybe it just would have been a lights to flag victory and not a lot happened. And then there was just this crazy ending where it was really exciting. So it was cool to watch because the excitement of watching them do a really short lap and just flying through these crazy corners was really fun. But I don't know if it – I don't think it's an upgrade. I don't think it's an upgrade on Bahrain. You know, if I take my nostalgia and the novelty of that race that we had there in 2020, sorry, and he said 20, I'm just looking at the lap time, 55 second lap it was, around that track was the lap record. And yeah, I think if I take that off, it's much better to have the actual Bahrain Grand Prix circuit, I think.

Yeah, I agree. if I had to pick between the two of them, it would be Bahrain as it is because I think it's one of the best circuits on the calendar and provides us great racing. It's such a shame it's been cancelled, but obviously it makes perfect sense as to why that's happened.

I think it was just a, in my opinion, like a really exciting random thing for us to watch, like watching qualifying and seeing a 55 second lap, you're like, oh, someone's starting a hot lap, oh, they're finishing it. It was, you know, blink and you miss it kind of vibe,

which was great. You know, made it, really, really close and it was different. I think that was the exciting part of it. If we had that every year, I don't know if it'd be, I don't know if it hit the same as you see. Especially if you had one boring race,

you'd go, we should have just raced at the normal track. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, standard Formula One fans, not happy with anything. But the second part of Kieran's suggestion, and this is the important part,

was Mijello. That is an actual suggestion. Tommy, I am going to straight up, you know, this might Angus and most, to GP fans say that this is not a circuit for Formula One. I'd be happy to not see this comeback. No disrespect to Micello, but it is quite literally a circuit

that is made so much more for bikes and for fast-flowing vehicles, but not Formula One. There's not a single heavy braking zone, really, to allow for big moves. You could maybe say turn one to a degree, but even then it's a bit of a... Yeah, it's a bit of a...

bit too flowy. I don't like flowy, Tommy. I really don't. So for me, Mosello, I will say, look, it was cool and I always find it cool to see Formula One cars on a different circuit. And that's what we got, of course, with COVID. But would I want it as a staple? No. Quali was incredible there to watch a Formula One car go around. And you just know that the drivers would love it. You're right. In terms of like, flowy fast circuits are really fun to watch in. say a qualifying thing, but they don't provide the best racing. And, you know, if we're talking about another track that is going to be, you know, ditched from the calendar potentially, if we're choosing between having, you know,

a second race in Italy, I'd much rather see Imala stay because I think there's potential there and it has provided some decent action. It still may be a little bit old school and difficult to overtake. You never know with these newer, newer cars. and the fact they're a lot smaller. It would still be challenging, but I do think you'd see, you know, overtaking down the straight and stuff,

whereas Magello, yeah, it was almost too fast and flowing. I'm very, very glad we got to see it, particularly in an era where, you know, there was that incredible Mercedes. It was the W-11, would it have been in 2020. You know, one of the best Formula On cars we've ever seen and being able to watch that in a qualifying lap go around a track like Mijellé was just epic.

But I don't think it is the greatest thing for Formula One cars that is a bike track. And also 2026 qualifying. Is it even going to be that great to watch around Mijell? Yeah, it would be the Lifton Coast Grand Prix. Oh, no, that's another trigger word, another trigger phrase. That's just happened. Likeo.

Oh, no. Okay, let's go to another one from Jersey Pool 90. I really liked Paul Ricard, actually, but I don't think many others did. Which of the 173 layouts, did you like? Any of them? Oh, no. Look, poor Ricard.

I don't think, yeah, I'd love to, I'd love an alternate universe where poor Rickard didn't have the kind of seizure-inducing runoff area and had gravel and, grass and see what the public perception would have been. I do think there's just something about it looking like a test track always just gives it a disservice and makes me not like it, even though if I look at everything of the layout itself, you go, okay, great, long straights, breaking zones, kind of quite cool corners and things.

but there's just something about the nature of the runoff and how it's quite a weird watch when you can see all the different layouts on the same time. You know, they're going into a chicane and you look at the chican and there's like seven different ways they can take it and it kind of makes it, even though you as a Formula One fan know where the track is, it's just a weird watch in my opinion. Yes, yeah, it is. it doesn't feel special. Like it doesn't feel as though this was purpose built for Formula One.

It's like this was built for everybody. Which is mad because it's a retro track as well. Yeah. It's not even like it's a new track where we go, oh, that's just built for modern Formula One. It's soulless. You know, they've been racing there since the 70s. Yeah.

I know what they needed to do, right? So keep the 173 layouts, but they sort of litter it with neon. Okay, so which shows the track limits, right? But each lap it changes. Each lap, one of the 173 layouts is the next lap, and they have to follow the neon lights into that next thing. Oh, and you could put some boxes with question marks on the track,

and then they have to drive through them, and then they get the boost button more if they go through the boxes. Oh, yeah, I mean, to be fair, because they've already done the technology around the outside. where if you spin off, it's got like really grippy. Yeah, yeah. That was that weird thing that just destroyed the tires and stopped you from going into the wall

unless you're Charlotte-Cla. I don't want to talk about it. That's why I hate Paul Ricard, actually. It was just that one moment. But yeah, there could be a way in which you have the really sticky stuff that slows you down, but the really, like, fast stuff as well. Like, this is what Paul-R-R-R-Bott is.

It would be fun, actually, to watch, you know, when you play Mario Kart and you can go on the grass and the gravel, and as long as you've got, like, the golden mushroom, you can make corners. allow them to use their boost button on the blue runoff area and just go for it and see how the race goes. Okay. I like how he's just gone completely. Very serious suggestion.

This one. But that's because Paul Ricard, as of right now, no, it just feels, it feels, as you say, like a test track. No. I don't think many people do apart from Jersey Pool 90. And also, the fans probably don't miss it either because they have horrendous traffic control around there from what I heard.

It literally took people hours and hours. They missed practice. They misqualify. Just trying to get into the circuit. Because it's not really made for it. It's not really built for it. I don't think many people miss Paul Ricard, but I'd gladly drive a Formula One car around it

because I know they do lots of tariffing with F1 cars. Okay, let's go to the next one. Pee-1 Patreon. Magnicor always seemed like a fun one. Also, Portemau. Both seemed to have some decent racing. Okay, let's start with Manly Core. Tommy, you're old.

So, you know, you can... I know it as well. I know, I'm also old. But Manly Cor, thoughts. It's a cool, a cool track. Narrow. Narrow, yeah, it is. It is, although I do think it would quite suit modern F1

in the sense that you have that amazing run down to a big hairpin. Yeah, it's a fun, fast, flowy track. I see why they did it because it worked better where you had another heavy breaking zone going into 10-15 and then a little chican. They used to have almost like a double chican going into the final sector, which I remember watching,

which was quite exciting and playing on the old PlayStation F-1 game showing my age here. But I think it's a cool circuit. It's one of those there that I don't think was particularly liked at the time and maybe it just kind of feels nostalgic now just because you remember it from from back in the day but yeah it's it's fast and flowy but does have a nice heavy breaking zone as well which could provide some overtaking opportunities but if we're if we're getting the french grand prix back i would take this one over poor ricard any day uh-huh yes agreed

but that's not really a high bar is it yeah i think this would kind of hit the same way as like an Imala returning where I don't know if I'm fully expecting the greatest racing to come out of it but as an older school Formula One fan you go that's pretty cool that it's come back because I would be interested to see how how the racing would be I think it would need to be widened to some degree to allow for the for the racing to potentially make sense around here there's also an alternate layout which makes it a lot quicker if they just at turn five which is called Adelaide, you just then go straight to turn 14. I used to do that and let out, R-Factor mods and stuff.

You could just cut the corner and just join at turn 14. Yeah, get rid of all the... Maybe Aston Martin could do that layout and see who would win, see if it gives them a chance. And speaking of Imala as well, there is actually a corner called Imola. So that's... They're all named after, and they are like classic tracks, I believe. Yeah, Nurbugring, you've got Estereil, golf, Adelaide. We're going to Adelaide, buy your P1 live show tickets.

That was a good segue So yeah, Magnicor can take or leave it But it would be interesting to see Maybe for a one-off And then Portemau Portemau was That is coming back

That and also The thing that I Remember the best And it's a core memory of mine Is Kimmy Reichenen Yeah Yeah My God

The guy starting on soft tyres In slightly slippery conditions And Oh, that was just goat things I absolutely loved that. As a circuit, how do I feel about it? I think it is, it's pretty cool. You know, it's got undulations. It's like a roller coaster, right? And I don't mind it being on the calendar. Once again, I'd much prefer this kind of circuit than another one built in the desert, in my opinion.

I think we've got enough of those and something with, again, ding, ding, ding, character. I don't mind. Portemau. Is it the best circuit for racing? I'd say it's probably not top tier, but good enough. Yeah, it is good enough. I do, I loved watching it as a cool, cool track. I do think it, you desperately need turn one to be a hairpin there, or a much heavier breaking zone in terms of, because the way Portemal is at the moment, it's quite a quick right-hander.

So the only overtakes you're getting are in previously as DRS passes, and this boost passes where you're not actually getting the overtake done in the breaking zone is just you just fly past them on the straight. Stroll yeat someone into turn one because of the fact that it was it was for Stappan, they collided. It was a Vastappan and Stroll? It just turned in and they collided. She's such a clumsy first corner.

It is a clumsy first corner. And the problem is that turn five does have that nice hairpin from a straight, but you've already kind of lost all the momentum from turns one, two, three and four being able to kind of follow each other and then that is where like would be the best overtaking spot but unfortunately the first kind of four turns you lose a lot of that so it's a good circuit of course I'm glad to see it back I am very much of the opinion that I would love to see the calendar

mixed up more I thought that might happen in in after what we saw with the COVID calendar and these cool circuits coming back but it's all about contracts, isn't it? And people want to sign these big money contracts while Formula One is booming and it's never going to happen. But, you know, if in a perfect world, I would love to see more circuits rotated

because it's exciting to when you return to these circuits and, you know, Magello, we mentioned before, it's not the perfect circuit, but if you had it one year, it'd be quite cool. And then next year it's similar and stuff like that. But I'm excited to see Portemau back. For sure, for sure. I think it'll be a good addition.

So yeah, let's see how that one unfolds with these brand new cars. Question, not question, comment, whatever you want to call it. Suggestion from Arnie Cuttingham. The old blast through the forest, Hockenheim. I've got a controversial take on this one.

Oh, go on then. Go on then. Be sourcing. I will. this is coming from a fan that grew up in the mid-90s and this circuit. I get it. It's very, very cool, but it's not good for racing at all. I think you look back on it with a lot of nostalgia, and I think it is one of those things that you can watch back videos

from the 90s and 80s and 2000s, and you can hear a screaming V10 through the forest, and it looks absolutely awesome. But in terms of the racing there, it was always one of the worst Grand Prix's there because there's nowhere to pass. The circuit was too long that if you go there as a fan,

you're not seeing the cars very much at all because they would fly past on the straight and then you wouldn't see them for another two minutes. And yeah, in terms of like it being a classic layout, it's really cool and I love watching those old videos, but in terms of an actual Grand Prix, I don't think it's as good as everyone remembers, and I don't think it would be a good race.

And for a high-speed circuit, we have Monza, which provides much better action. And I actually think that the redesigned Hockenheim that they did in 2002, I believe, where they shortened it and you have that run down to the hairpin and then equally like a number,

another little section where you can do lots of passing and repassing is a much better circuit than the old school one if we take the nostalgia out of a V10 screaming through the forest. So I really, I actually really like the Hockenheim from 2002 onwards where they shortened it and made it a much more kind of suitable racetrack for overtaking and passing and excitement. Yeah, I don't know if that's too much of a controversial opinion, Tommy. because there were so many reasons as to why they won't ever do the blast through the forest. I mean, not less the safety of doing that. And that was the reason why they got rid of it in the first place, wasn't it?

It was because of the fact that it wasn't safe. They introduced a chicaned, didn't they, into the blast through the forest to try to slow them down? There were lots of chicanes there. Initially, they didn't have chicanes and they did have chicanes. But one of the real struggles there was, of course, when you've got a massive long circuit in the middle of the forest it's very hard to police and have the security and you know one fan managed to get on the track to protest about a race it's a very core memory if you were watching formula in the 90s where i think it was a Mercedes employee that had been fired and out

of protest he got onto the track wearing a flag protesting Mercedes and was like running across the track and that's the danger I guess of it's hard to police when you've got this enormous circuit in the forest and yeah it was a crazy crazy moment that Grand Prix it certainly was but back to this circuit I would love to see Hockenheim back in its current form I think it's sad that we don't have a German circuit considering there's the Nerbogrinder and Hockenheim and they used to interchange each year. I feel like they absolutely do deserve a Formula One circuit does Germany because just think about all the champions that have come from Germany and I'm sure there are

lots of Audi and Mercedes racing as well now. So it's like come on. Whoever needs to sort this out, please do because yes, it looks like we might well be turning this into a 30 race calendar if we keep saying please add more circuits. but at the same time, I think it's a shame that we're not racing around Hockenheim because it's one of my core memories

as a kid watching this circuit. Next one comes in for Morg's underscore take. Dump Monaco, give Vietnam a chance. Wow. Monaco for Vietnam. Look, Monaco's going to be amazing this year. They're going to be 800 overtakes.

Well, yeah, and Ferrari get a 1-2, my guy. One of the only high-down-force circuits of the calendar. but yes, that is a wild, wild take. I can't believe this track never actually even, they never even raced there, crazy. But it's still there, from what I know. It's very abandoned, though.

It's abandoned, but it's still there. It's giving like Valencia vibes where, but at least Valencia had some races. I can't believe, I can't believe they built it. And then we never saw it. It's in the F1 game, isn't it? You can drive it on one of the F1 games because they were expecting to race it.

It is, if you're not unaware, and go check out the track map. The final sector is basically the start of Suzuki backwards and then they've basically got Shanghai and merged Suzuki and Shanghai together to create like one circuit, it feels like. And it would have been cool to see. I know a lot of people that played the F1 game

thought this circuit was really good and really liked it. is the we mention about having a long straight and heavy braking zone have they gone too extreme with it potentially but it would have been interesting to see them do a race there

and it's a shame it never happened because you know you for them to spend all that money building a circuit and then for it to never even host a race it's absolutely insane you know not even

not even the fact that maybe like Formula One didn't race there and they're still doing MotoGP or some GT racing, just gone. So the reason they didn't race is quite an interesting one. But essentially it all boiled down to the arrest of a key local promoter on corruption charges. And then once he was arrested, that was essentially the backbone of the support for this Formula One race. And then they just dropped it, which is, mad to think that there wasn't more support for it to keep it going considering fair enough if it was just at the blueprint stage but it

literally built I can't believe there was done yeah it's ready to go once to see how it goes but but no and back to the point would I dump Monaco for Vietnam no Monaco deserves its place on the calendar because Ferrari are going to win it okay next one people want picture remember Steelhead I'd like to see Fuji come back in some capacity personally because I like the latest out. Tommy, I'm not going to lie. The only thing I think about is Mark Webber throwing up in his helmet. That is the first thing that I think of when it comes to Fuji. Mine is Cupitzer and Massa swapping positions and then basically doing track limits are optional. Oh yeah, no, for sure. In

2026, they would have both had 50 seconds worth of penalties. And maybe that's where we've all gone wrong in Formula One. Maybe. I think Fuji is a very interesting track because Suzuki is a no doubt epic the drivers love it it's an incredible circuit I'd be absolutely gutted to see it disappear off of the calendar and it I was when you know initially was replaced but you can argue that Fuji is a much better circuit for modern Formula One you know with with the layout it is and it can't or you can't always just have circuits to go oh well this is better racing because you'd kind of destroy destroy the calendar but

We saw, you know, it rotate going one year. Maybe that's something that they could do in the future because it is, you know, it's a grade one circuit. They have, you know, it's a kind of staple on the WEC calendar. And it's a cool, a cool circuit that provides a lot of action, good long, long straight for passing, but kind of exciting flowing corners as well. So on paper, it's not a good, it's nowhere near as good as Suzuki in terms of like a track layout and excitement from, you know, a lap if I was driving it and wanting to see qualifying and things there.

But it would be a cool circuit to see how it would hold up, I think, in modern Formula One. All right, let's make it a 40 track calendar in that case. It's good. Beautiful stuff. I think Fuji, yeah, was an exciting track. not least because of the changeable conditions and everything else that we saw. Although, to be fair, we'd never see racing with the amount of rain we've seen in previous years around this track. So there we go.

Those are the circuits and suggestions that have been put to this podcast. Let us know your thoughts and your circuits that you would bring back to the F1 calendar in the comments. Tommy, what are your final thoughts? I can't wait for all the comments going. I can't believe you didn't mention X, which would probably get to be most of it, but we'd be here all day. But that was really fun. I did enjoy reminiscing about some old circuits.

It's got me, you know, hype to see that the likes of Portemar back and maybe even Turkey. So now we just need to push for Sopang and India as well. Perfect. Let's keep pushing. Matt and Tommy getting Sopang on your back on the circuit calendar. That is it.

We'll see you very soon. Lots of love. Hope you enjoying spring break. Take care. Bye! is a Stack production and part of the ACAST creator network.