| A Formula 1 circuit usually has a starting grid | | | | reasons why the circuit is still in use, as it is |
| placed on a stretch of straight road. The teams | | | | thought not to meet the strict safety |
| work on the cars before the race in the place | | | | requirements imposed on other tracks. No |
| called pit lane. This is where the drivers stop for | | | | wonder that the three-time World champion |
| fuel during the race and it is also situated next to | | | | Nelson Piquet described racing in Monaco as "riding |
| the starting grid. | | | | a bicycle around your living room." |
| These are the only things that cannot miss from | | | | The new Bahrain International Circuit, which was |
| a typical Formula 1 circuit. The rest can be very | | | | designed, like most of F1's new circuits, by |
| different from one location to the other, keeping | | | | Hermann Tilke intends to protect the safety of |
| the clockwise direction of the race though. There | | | | drivers, unlike the 1950s, when a driver was lucky |
| can also be some cases when the race runs in | | | | to find a strategically placed bale of straw to |
| the opposite direction, but this is not very | | | | absorb an impact. There are many large run-off |
| comfortable for the drivers at all. They can get | | | | areas, gravel traps and tire barriers in the modern |
| serious neck problems due to the enormous | | | | circuits, in order for the risk of injuries due to |
| lateral forces generated by F1 cars pulling their | | | | crashed to be reduced. The tragic disappearance |
| heads in the opposite direction to normal. Corners | | | | of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at |
| like the high-speed Eau Rouge at | | | | Imola during the 1994 season, safety has been |
| Spa-Francorchamps, the Parabolica at Monza and | | | | enforced even more in all circuits. The main idea is |
| the Tamburello corner at Imola have become | | | | to best match the speed of a car with both the |
| very well known in their own right. | | | | ability of the barriers to safely absorb the energy |
| The circuit in Monaco, which is used for the | | | | of a crash and also the available space to slow |
| Monaco Grand Prix, is the only real street circuit | | | | down in before reaching a barrier. |
| around. The rest of the circuits have only been | | | | Redesigns of the Formula 1 circuits will always |
| built in the purpose of competition. The fame and | | | | have the main goal of meeting the safety |
| the history of the Monaco race are the main | | | | standards for the drivers. |