Which is the Fastest F1 Circuit?

Which is the fastest F1 circuit on the current calendar? Here are the 24 current F1 circuits ranked from fastest to slowest!

^{Header Image: © Andrew Balfour}

Circuits Ranked from the Fastest F1 Circuit to the Slowest

*The table above shows the average speed of the last pole position lap in dry weather at each of the 24 current circuits on the Formula 1 calendar. For most circuits, that is the 2024 Grand Prix qualifying session. The exceptions are Interlagos (for which Oscar Piastri’s pole time in Sprint Qualifying is used) and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (where 2019 remains the last time that qualifying concluded in dry conditions).

Monza is the Fastest F1 Circuit

Monza is the fastest circuit on the current Formula 1 calendar, with the 2024 Italian Grand Prix pole lap being taken at an average of just under 263km/h. The so-called “Temple Of Speed” certainly lives up to its name, thanks to its long straight and minimal cornering. There are just 11 turns over the 5.8km track distance, meaning the majority of the lap is spent at full throttle, with top speeds reaching over 360km/h.

Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the Fastest Street Track in F1

Jeddah Corniche Circuit – host of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – is the fastest street circuit at which F1 has ever raced. Despite having 27 corners and being the second-longest circuit on the calendar, a lap of the track can be taken at an average speed of over 254km/h.

Monaco is the Slowest Circuit on the F1 Calendar

There are only two circuits on the F1 calendar at which the average speed on the most recent dry weather pole lap was under 200km/h. Both of them are street circuits, with tight confines, short straights and frequent slow corners.

Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, is the second-slowest track on the calendar, with an average speed of just under 199km/h.

The slowest circuit on the current calendar is Circuit de Monaco, by quite some margin. The average speed on Charles Leclerc’s 2024 Monaco Grand Prix pole lap time was just under 171km/h.

The downhill hairpin turn – now known as the Fairmont Hairpin – is the slowest corner on the F1 calendar and is taken at a relatively pedestrian 45km/h.

What’s the Fastest Ever Lap In a Formula 1 Car?

All of the top 50 fastest qualifying lap times in Formula 1 history have been recorded at Monza. The fastest of all came at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, when Lewis Hamilton took pole position with a lap that was completed at 364.363km/h.

13 of the top 50 qualifying lap speeds in F1 history were set during qualifying for the 2020 Monza race. On that day, both he and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas eclipsed the former record for the fastest average lap speed set by Kimi Raikkonen in the 2018 Italian Grand Prix.

Raikkonen’s 2018 record set a new benchmark for the first time in 14 years. Rubens Barrichello was the previous record holder, having taken pole for the 2004 Italian Grand Prix with an average speed of 260.395km/h. Raikkonen broke that record by 3.193km/h.

Lando Norris’ pole lap time from the 2024 Italian Grand Prix currently ranks at the seventh fastest qualifying lap in F1 history.