Hardest F1 track: what Formula 1 itself says and what the numbers show

Which track does Formula 1 call the toughest?

Marina Bay in Singapore. In an article on 3 October 2025, the Formula 1 website called the Singapore Grand Prix “the toughest race on the calendar” and explained why:

• temperatures inside the cockpit regularly top 60 °C, and humidity can rise to 90%;
• the 4.9 km lap has 19 low-speed corners, and the street surface is bumpy;
• only Monaco has a slower average race speed.

According to Formula 1, George Russell has spoken about losing 4 kg of body weight during the 2024 race. It is a night race: Singapore held the first night Grand Prix, in 2008.

The races themselves were long too. In 2008–2022 the winner took more than 1 h 55 min in 12 races out of 13, and in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2022 the race ended before the scheduled number of laps. How the two-hour limit works is explained in the race duration article.

Since 2023 the lap has been shorter, 4.94 km, and since 2025 it has been 4.927 km, with 19 corners instead of 23. The 2023–2025 races took between 1 h 40 min and 1 h 47 min. The 2026 Singapore Grand Prix is on 11 October, over 62 laps.

Which track has the most corners?

Madring, the new street circuit in Madrid, which held its first Grand Prix on 13 September 2026: f1db counts 22 corners there. Baku and the Circuit of the Americas have 20 each.

The fewest corners on the 2026 calendar are at the Red Bull Ring, 10, and Monza, 11, and the 23 tracks of the season average 16.4. Corners are counted as in f1db, and other sources may count them differently. Maps and lengths of every track are in the Circuits section.

Where do drivers retire most often?

In Melbourne, at Albert Park: in 2014–2025, 22.8% of starters retired there, 45 out of 197. Next come Montreal and Silverstone, at about 17%.

A retirement here means the driver did not reach the finish and was not classified, for any reason, from a failure to a crash. We counted the 2014–2025 races at circuits on the 2026 calendar that held at least five races in those years; there are 18 such circuits. The fewest retirements were at Zandvoort, 9.0%, and at Shanghai and Suzuka, 9.8% each.

Where do drivers retire most often after accidents?

At Silverstone and Monaco: in 2014–2025, accidents stopped 10.0% and 9.9% of starters there from reaching the finish. This counts accidents, collisions, collision damage and spins off the track.

The races and the rule are the same as in the section above. The fewest accident retirements were at Yas Marina: 2.5%, 6 out of 241.

Where do cars break down most often?

Melbourne again: in 2014–2025, 14.7% of starters there retired for reasons other than accidents, 29 out of 197. Next come the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, at 11.3%, and the Red Bull Ring, at 10.2%.

This covers every retirement except accidents. At these three circuits they were failures of the engine and power unit, brakes, hydraulics, wheels and other parts, plus one puncture. The rule and the years are the same as above.

Which track is the slowest?

Monaco: by the average speed of the fastest lap in the race, it is the slowest track of 2025 and of the first 15 rounds of 2026. The calculation is in the article on track length and speed. According to Formula 1, overtaking is also harder on Monaco’s narrow streets; how street circuits differ from permanent tracks is covered in the article “F1 street circuits”.

Which track did the drivers themselves call too dangerous?

The Nordschleife, the North Loop of the Nürburgring, where Formula 1 held 22 Grands Prix in 1951–1976. In 1970, according to Formula 1, the drivers refused to race there because safety improvements had not been completed. Before the 1976 race, according to the Nürburgring, Niki Lauda, among others, argued that the Nordschleife and Formula 1 were too dangerous a combination. In March 1977 drivers’ representatives decided that no further top-flight races would be held there.

The Nürburgring itself describes the safety problems on the loop as “hardly solvable”. The loop’s length, corners and races are in the article “Nordschleife”, and the longest tracks in history in the article on track lengths. How F1 tracks became safer after 1994 is covered in the article on Imola 1994.