[WoodingBoys]

Fabulous thread Jason and huge amount of work.

Will be great to see some of the tracks come to life in due course... With Barca already done by Slot Track Scenics :-0

 

[JasonB]

Thanks everyone.

I've just read that they are thinking about taking out the chicane on the Mistral straight next year.

What's the overall footprint of the Scalextric version of the circuit Jason?

It's 4.25m x 1.56m.

 

[JasonB]

Round 9 - Austrian Grand Prix

Austrian GP Details
Location - Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
Date - 29th June - 1st July 2018
Lap Length - 2.683 mi - 4.318 km
Laps - 71
Race Distance - 190.420 mi - 306.452 km
Turns - 10
Race lap record - 1:06.957, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 2018

The Austrian Grand Prix was first run in 1963 at the Zeltweg Airfield circuit. The following year marked the first championship F1 race at the venue, but the circuit was considered to be bland, bumpy, and dangerous.

The event was discontinued until a new circuit, Osterreichring was constructed in 1969, and this circuit hosted the Austrian GP from 1970 to 1987, at which point it was also deemed to be too dangerous.

In 1996 the track was significantly redesigned by Hermann Tilke and renamed the A1 ring, where the Austrian GP was held from 1997 to 2003. In 2013 the circuit was bought by Red Bull, renamed the Red Bull Ring, and has held the Austrian GP from 2014 to the present.

The Track

The circuit is situated in the Styrian mountains which certainly provide a spectacular scenic backdrop for the race.

Although the track is short, and has fewer fast corners than the fearsome Osterreichring which preceded it, the Red Bull Ring still manages to squeeze in a good variety of elements, including a substantial 60m of elevation, a long uphill straight, and a series of fast, sweeping, downhill corners.

Winners

Alain Prost is the most succesful driver at the Austrian GP, with three wins, followed by Ronnie Peterson, Alan Jones, Mika Hakinnen, Michael Schumacher, and Nico Rosberg, who all have two wins.

Past Winners

2018 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer

2017 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 2016

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2015 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

2014 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

McLaren are the most succesful team, with six wins, Ferrari have five, Lotus and Mercedes have four.

Of the current F1 drivers, only Bottas, Hamilton, and now Verstappen have won the Austrian GP.

Crowds

The Austrian GP is not the best attended F1 event of the year, by any stretch. In fact attendance figures suggest it's around the third worst attended race of the season. In 2015 120,000 spectators turned up over the race weekend.

 

[JasonB]

Round 10 - British Grand Prix

British GP Details
Location - Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England
Date - 6th-8th July 2018
Lap Length - 3.661 mi - 5.891 km
Laps - 52
Race Distance - 190.263 mi - 306.198 km
Turns - 18
Race lap record - 1:30.621, Lewis Hamilton, 2017

The British Grand Prix was the first ever Formula One race, thus making it the oldest F1 event. It has been part of the F1 calendar ever since, and is now one of the most popular F1 races in the world.

The British GP was first run in 1926 at Brooklands, but after two years the event was discontinued until 1948, when the race was held at Silverstone for the first time. Two non championship races were held there before the inaugural F1 championship race in 1950. Silverstone has been by far the most regular venue for the event, but Aintree also hosted the GP five times between 1955 and 1962, and Brands Hatch alternated with Silverstone between 1964 and 1987. Since then Silverstone has held the British GP continuously, and has become known as the home of British motor racing.

The Track

Silverstone is one of many British circuits that were set up on disused airfields after the Second World War. Unlike most of those tracks which appeared only fleetingly, Silverstone went from strength to strength.

The circuit has had many configurations over the years, from the perilous 1948 layout where cars would run directly towards each other at full speed with only hay bales as protection, through to the current, modern F1 facility.

You can see how the circuit has developed in shoddyback's excellent Silverstone Evolution thread.

In spite of the numerous layout changes, Silverstone has retained the characteristics of a challenging, high speed circuit, and the Maggots, Becketts complex is rightly renowned as being a challenge for any driver.

Winners

Three drivers share the record for the most British GP wins, with Jim Clark, Alain Prost, and Lewis Hamilton having each won five times. Nigel Mansell has four wins, Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda, and Michael Schumacher have three.

Past Winners

2018 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

2017 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2016 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2015 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2014 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2013 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

2012 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

2011 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

2010 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

2009 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2008 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2007 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari

2006 Fernando Alonso Renault

Ferrari are the most succesful constructor at the British GP, with 16 wins, followed by McLaren who have have 14, Williams who have 10, Lotus 8, and Mercedes 6.

Of the current F1 drivers, Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, and Raikonnen have won the event.

Crowds

With so many teams based not so far from the circuit, with a British world champion, and an enthusiastic public, it is perhaps not surprising that the British GP often tops the F1 attendance figures. Crowds regularly approach 350,000 for the race weekend, and the circuit often approaches it's maximum capacity of 150,000 on race day.

 

[JasonB]

Round 11 - German Grand Prix

German GP Details
Location - Am Motodrom, Hockenheim, Germany
Date - 20th-22nd July 2018
Lap Length - 2.842 mi - 4.574 km
Laps - 67
Race Distance - 190.424 mi - 306.458 km
Turns - 17
Race lap record - 1:13.780, Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, 2004

The German Grand Prix was first held in 1926, and became a regular event on the F1 calendar from 1951. The race has been held most years since then, but was not held in 2007, 2015, or 2017, and the future of the event continues to be the subject of speculation.

The most common venue for the German GP, and it's current home, is Hockenheim, though many events have also been held at the Nurburgring, and the race was once held at the AVUS in 1959.

The Track

Hockenheim was originally built in 1932, as a 12km long triangular circuit, but has undergone several dramatic changes in layout since then. In 1938 the track was shortened to 7.5km. In 1965 the circuit was redesigned to accomodate a new motorway, and chicanes were added in 1968, after the death of Jim Clark in a Formula 2 race.

The final alteration to the track came in 2002, when safety, and spectator concerns prompted the removal of the infamous forest sections, and the track was shortened to it's current length of 4.5km.

Winners

The most succesful driver at the German GP was Rudolf Caracciola, though none of his six wins were F1 events. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are the most successful divers of the F1 era with four wins apiece. Juan Manuel Fangio, Jackie Stewart, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, and Fernando Alonso all have three wins each.

Past Winners

2018 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2017 Not held

2016 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2015 Not held

2014 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

2013 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2012 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

2011 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2010 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

2009 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

2008 Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

Ferrari are by far the most succesful team at the German GP, with 22 wins. Williams have 9 wins, McLaren 8, Brabham 5, and Lotus 4. Mercedes have 11 German GP victories, but only four of those were F1 events.

Of our current F1 drivers, Hamilton now has four wins, and Alonso three.

Crowds

Perhaps surprisingly, the German GP cannot match the crowd numbers achieved by Silverston, or Spa. Race day attendances often struggle to reach 60,000, and attendances of around 120,000 for the whole event. This perhaps explains why the future of the German GP remains in doubt.

 

[JasonB]

Round 12 - Hungarian Grand Prix

Hungarian GP Details
Location - Hungaroring, Mogyorod, Hungary
Date - 27th-29th July 2018
Lap Length - 2.722 mi - 4.381 km
Laps - 70
Race Distance - 190.53 mi - 306.63 km
Turns - 14
Race lap record - 1:19.071, Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004

The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held in 1936 at Nepliget, a park in Budapest. But it would be fifty years before the running of the second GP in 1986, when it became the first F1 race to be held behind the "iron curtain".

Since then the event has been ever present on the F1 calendar, at it's permanent home, Hungaroring, near Budapest.

The Track

The circuit itself is short, narrow, tight and twisty, leading to comparisons with Monaco, with races often suffering from similar difficulties in overtaking.

The layout has remained largely unchanged, with only minor revisions including the lengthening of the pit straight, and minor alterations to turns 1,3, and 12.

Winners

Lewis Hamilton has the most Hungarian Grand Prix wins with six. Michael Schumacher has four, and Ayrton Senna has three.

Past Winners

2018 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2017 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

2016 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2015 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

2014 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault

2013 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2012 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2011 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes

2010 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

2009 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2008 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes

2007 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2006 Jenson Button Honda

2005 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes

2004 Michael Schumacher Ferrari

2003 Fernando Alonso Renault

The most successful team in Hungary is McLaren with 11 wins. Williams and Ferrari both have 7 wins, Mercedes have 3, and Red Bull have 2.

Amongst current F1 drivers, Hamilton now has six wins, Vettel has 2, and Alonso and Raikkonen have one each.

Crowds

Bearing in mind that this is not one of F1's headline events, the Hungarian GP is still reasonably well attended, and the Hungaroring will usually approach it's capacity of 70,000 on race day. Over the course of the event crowds approaching 190,000 are often achieved.

According to the national tourism office of Hungary, Mogyorod ranks third among Hungarian destinations visited by tourists.

 

[JasonB]

Round 13 - Belgian Grand Prix

Belgian GP Details
Location - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Belgium
Date - 24th-26th August 2018
Lap Length - 4.352 mi - 7.004 km
Laps - 44
Race Distance - 191.415 mi - 308.052 km
Turns - 19
Race lap record - 1:46.286, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 2018

The first Belgian Grand Prix was held in 1925 at the original Spa Francorchamps circuit, in the Ardennes region of Belgium. The race was held on and off until 1950, when it became a reguar part of the F1 calendar, missing only six years to the present day.

Spa Francorchamps has become the event's regular home since 1985, but Zolder was used many times in the 70s & 80s, and the race has also ben held a couple of times at Nivelles, and once at Bois de la Cambre.

The Track

I would hazard a guess that Spa Francorchamps would win the prize for best F1 circuit, if we were to take a poll. It is one of the most dramatic tracks on the calendar, it is the longest, and has the greatest elevation change of over 100m.

The run from turn 1, La Source, through to turn 6, Les Combes probably says it all. A 2km long, flat out, roller coaster ride, sweeping down through the famous Eau Rouge, and back uphill onto the Kemmel straight, before hitting the tight complex of corners at Les Combes. The whole track is an undulating, sweeping series of corners that provide a huge challenge for any driver.

The original layout of the track was designed in 1920, and was 15km long. Roughly triangular in shape, the course used public roads between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy, and Stavelot. In the 1930s and 40s, several changes were made which reduced the length of the circuit to 14km, and also made it even faster. However the most radical change in layout came in 1979, when the track was reduced in length to 7km, by removing much of the wide, open run out to the towns of Malmedy, and Stavelot.

Winners

The most succesful diver at the Belgian GP is Michael Schumacher who has won the event six times. Ayrton Senna has five wins. Jim Clark and Kimi Raikkonen have four. Juan Manuel Fangio, Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have three.

Past Winners

2018 Vettel Ferrari

2017 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2016 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

2015 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2014 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault

2013 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2012 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes

2011 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2010 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2009 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari

2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari

2007 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari

2006 Not held

2005 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes

2004 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes

Ferrari have the most GP victories in Belgium, with 17. McLaren have 14, Lotus have 8. Mercedes have six wins, but two of those were not F1 races.

Amongst our current F1 drivers, Raikkonen is the most successful with four wins, Hamilton and Vettel each have three.

Crowds

It is no surprise that the Belgian GP is a popular event, with record attendaces last year of 265,000, perhaps boosted by local interest in Vandoorne, and Verstappen.

 

[JasonB]

Round 14 - Italian Grand Prix

Italian GP Details
Location - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy
Date - 31 August - 02 September 2018
Lap Length - 3.600 mi - 5.793 km
Laps - 53
Race Distance - 190.596 mi - 306.720 km
Turns - 11
Race lap record - 1:21.046, Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari, 2004

The Italian Grand Prix is one of only two events to have been held in every single season of F1, along with the British GP.

However, the history of the event goes right back to 1921, and Monza has had a virtual monopoly on hosting the race ever since. Only five times out of the 88 Italian GPs that have been raced, has it been held elsewhere; once each at Brescia, Livorno, Milan, Valentino Park, and Imola. In the F1 era, the event has only moved away from Monza once, when Imola hosted the race in 1980.

Monza is the undisputed home of the Italian GP, and the "temple of speed", as the track is known, is obviously one of only a handful of modern F1 races that has the history, the fans, and the character to distinguish itself as one of F1's headline events.

The Track

Monza was only the third purpose race track to be buit, after Brooklands and Indianapolis.

Built in the woodlands of the Royal Villa of Monza park, the circuit was really a tale of two halves. One half being an oval, the other a road course, and somehow those two parts have gone down different paths.

The road course is still very much recognisable from the earliest layouts, albeit with several added chicanes and reprofiled corners. The oval however had a more chequered history. Dropped in 1933, the oval returned in 1955 as a fabulous but fearsome banked part of the circuit which was used in the 1955, 56, 60, & 61 Grands Prix, but has not been used since 1969, and now lies crumbling amongst the forest.

Winners

Michael Schumacher and Lewis hamilton share the honour of being the most succesful driver at the Italian GP, with five voctories apiece. Nelson Piquet has four wins, and a whole host follow him with three wins; Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Ronnie Peterson, Alain Prost, Rubens Barichello, Sebastian Vettel, Alberto Ascari (2 wins in the F1 era), and Tazio Nuvolari (all before F1).

Sadly, two of those drivers lost their lives at Monza. Ronnie Peterson died at the start of the 1978 Italian GP, and Alberto Ascari perished in testing just four days after being pulled out of the harbour at the 1955 Monaco GP.

Past Winners

2018 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2017 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2016 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

2015 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2014 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2013 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2012 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2011 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2010 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

2009 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes

2008 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari

2007 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes

Ferrari are by far the most succesful team at their home grand prix with 19 wins, all but one in F1. McLaren have 10 wins, Mercedes have 7 F1 victories and 9 altogether, Alfa Romeo have 8 wins, but only one in F1. Williams have 6 wins, and Lotus 5.

Amongst current F1 drivers, Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver with five wins, Vettel has three, and Alonso two.

Crowds

Tifosi!!! Need I say more?

Apparently yes, because in spite of the tifosi's undying loyalty to the prancing horse, and in spite of Ferrari's undoubted success over the years, attendances at the the Italian GP are only around 185,000. That's still great, but surprisingly falls below, not just the other main headline events, but also Hungary, USA, Mexico, and Abu Dhabi.

 

[JasonB]

Round 15 - Singapore Grand Prix

Singapore GP Details
Location - Marina Bay, Singapore
Date - 14th-16th September 2018
Lap Length - 3.146 mi - 5.063 km
Laps - 61
Race Distance - 191.821 mi - 308.706 km
Turns - 23
Race lap record - 1:41.905, Kevin Magnussen, Haas-Ferrari, 2018

The Singapore Grand Prix has an unusual early history. Non championship Formula Libre races were held at the Thompson Road Circuit from 1962 to 1973, but races before Singapore's independence in 1966 are now regarded as Malaysian GPs. So, the history of the Singapore GP officially starts in 1966. Eight races were held, before a long lay off.

In 2008 the event returned, this time as part of the F1 calendar, using a new street circuit at Marina Bay. The event was the first F1 night race, the first F1 visit to a street circuit in Asia, and has become notorious because of Renault's instructions to Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash his car. Nonetheless, the event has been a regular part of F1 ever since.

The Track

Like many street circuits, Marina Bay is full of tight, right angled corners, with extremely limited run off areas. It is the slowest F1 track, but with 23 corners, a bumpy track surface, and high temperatures and humidity, it is considered to be one of the most physically challenging.

The circuit is also one of the most dramatic, picked out by the floodlights, framed by the backdrop of the skyscrapers, and criss crossed by motorway flyovers.

Winners

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton share the honours for the most wins in Singapore with four apiece. Fernando Alonso has two, and Nico Rosberg is the only other to win in the F1 era.

Past Winners

2018 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2017 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2016 Nico Rosberg Mercedes

2015 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

2014 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2013 Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2012 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2011 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault

2010 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

2009 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2008 Fernando Alonso Renault

Mercedes are the most succesful F! team at the Singapoer GP, with four wins, followed by Red Bull who have three. Ferrari have two F1 wins, and McLaren one.

Crowds

The Singapore GP is very popular. Attendances of around 250,000 put the event in amongst the top five F1 events of the year for crowd numbers.

 

[911TT]

I've been enjoying these JasonB, thank you for your efforts.

 

[JasonB]

Thanks 911TT.

 

[D Novice Pro]

absolutely awesome Jason, loving this and looking forward to the rest of the season..

 

[Roguejackal]

I was wondering does anyone have a printout for Suzuka track