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F1 recently announced a brand new street circuit in Madrid that will host races in 2026. This immediately raised questions about the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a classic track that has been hosting the Spanish GP ever since 1991.
Though CEO Stefano Domenicali clarified that Madrid's entry in the calendar does not necessarily mean the removal of Barcelona, there is a strong chance that the classic track will take its leave.
Similar to Barcelona, several other classic tracks have been removed from the calendar to make way for modern circuits. We look at three of these tracks that have been removed in the last decade.
#1 Mugello F1 Circuit
Though Mugello is not the most famous track in the F1 space, this classic circuit is extremely famous in other motorsport series. The single-seater series only raced on the Italian circuit back in 2020, under the official name Tuscan Grand Prix. It was the first and last F1 race the track hosted, at least as of now.
The Tuscan GP was won by Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton, who was the reigning world champion at the moment. The race was plagued with several crashes and restarts, with drivers like Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, and more retiring. Only 12 drivers were able to finish the race.
Mugello was picked for a race mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, many countries were unable to host races, which shortened the race calendar quite a lot.
Unfortunately, the track has not featured on the calendar since and has no plans to make a return as well.
#2 Nurburgring F1 Circuit
Nurburgring is well known in the F1 community since the circuit has hosted many races in the past. From 1951 to 2013, the track has been sporadically included in the race calendar. Up until 1984, the race used to take place around the massive Nordschleife loop, which Jackie Stewart nicknamed 'The Green Hell'.
The last race it hosted was in 2020, under the Eifel Grand Prix. This classic circuit was also brought back to the calendar after 2013 because of the COVID-19 pandemic when many races were canceled.
The last race at Nurburgring was also won by Lewis Hamilton while second-placed Max Verstappen stole the fastest lap of the race. Daniel Ricciardo also enjoyed his first podium with Renault after struggling with them in 2019. At this race, Lewis Hamilton equaled Michael Schumacher's race win record.
After 2020, the Nurburgring circuit never returned to the calendar.
#3 Hockenheimring F1 circuit
Hockenheimring is another extremely famous classic circuit that has been part of the F1 calendar ever since 1970. During that time, the Hockengeimring was chosen for the German GP mainly because drivers boycotted the Nurburgring-Nordschleife for being too dangerous.
Though Hockenheim itself had a massive fast-speed banking section, it was not as nearly as dangerous as 'The Green Hell'.
The German GP jumped from Hockenheimring and Nurburgring several times from 1970 to 2013 before the former became a permanent track on the calendar.
The 2019 German GP was won by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. He also bagged the fastest lap of the race. It was a disastrous race for Mercedes since Valtteri Bottas retired from the race after crashing, and Lewis Hamilton somehow finished ninth.
After 2019, however, the circuit at Hockenheim never hosted a single race.
