Who decides where the bends, sharp turns and straights are? Is it just random or is there some thought process behind it?
In: 5
Well, obviously *some* tracks (e.g. Monaco, Spa-Francorchamps) are actually built on pre-existing roads, so they just follow those for the most part. A complete new build track is designed, though. The thought process should theoretically be to produce a track that provides for fast sections, slow sections, and also has overtaking opportunities. A lot of F1 tracks were designed by a guy called Hermann Tilke, but he’s been criticised for producing boring tracks and for butchering tracks that already existed (e.g. Hockenheim).
There are tons of rules and regulations to follow, and that impacts track design.
Width, length, top speed, safety features and so on will dictate wether the track is eligible to regional, no timed nor competition use to full fledged F1 track. In France for example, tracks where you cant go faster than 125mph are limited to regional use and do not have much supervision, while F1 tracks are supervised by the government.
The design by itself is a result of these rules and the geography / elevation changes, and of course stuff that makes the track interesting, like areas that have multiple lines for overtaking, challenging corners and so on.
Of course some regulations can be bypassed, as F1 tracks made from roads are still used yet do not comply.
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