What Are The Biggest Races In Formula 1?

Over the years, Formula 1 has gone from being a niche sport to a worldwide phenomenon followed by hundreds of millions of fans. This has been possible thanks to the expansion of the calendar and the constant addition of new Grand Prix, as races are held in 20 different countries. Now let’s look at the most iconic of the 23 F1 races!

What are the biggest races in F1?

• Monaco Grand Prix
• Italian Grand Prix
• Belgian Grand Prix
• British Grand Prix
• São Paulo Grand Prix

Monaco Grand Prix

Every year, top-caliber celebrities from the entertainment and sports industry flow into the French Riviera to attend the biggest Formula 1 race of the year. The environment and the uniqueness of the Circuit de Monaco make this one of the most glamorous sporting events in the whole year. The Monaco Grand Prix is also one of the most difficult races in Formula 1, belonging together with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500 to the Triple Crown of Motorsport, the trio of the most prestigious races in the world.

The Grand Prix is held between the last week of May and the first week of June depending on the F1 calendar and always guarantees a great race. Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna is the winningest driver in the history of the Grand Prix with six wins, five of which came in consecutive years from 1989 to 1993, while McLaren is the constructor with most successes having won 15 times in Monaco.

Italian Grand Prix

Italy is among the countries with the biggest motorsports tradition, mainly thanks to the cult around Scuderia Ferrari and drivers like Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher. Thus, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has always made sure to include at least one Grand Prix in the country in the Formula 1 calendar. While the FIA only brought back the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, Italy in 2020, the Italian Grand Prix in Monza keeps on being a constant in the F1 season.

The Italian Grand Prix, which is held every year in mid-September, is one of the most competitive races of the season. Due to the fact that it is one of the last 10 races of the year, this Grand Prix can turn out to be decisive in the final standings. The huge presence of local fans always puts Ferrari among the favorites to win the race. The Italian constructor has, indeed, won it a record 20 times, while Michael Schumacher is the winningest driver in the history of the Grand Prix with five wins, all of them coming while racing for Ferrari.

Belgian Grand Prix

Ferrari and Michael Schumacher lead the all-time record books at yet another one of the toughest circuits in the Formula 1 calendar: the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, where every year has held the Belgian Grand Prix around the end of July.

The structure of the circuit and the constantly bad weather turn the winners of the Belgian Grand Prix into legends. The circuit has one of the most difficult corners in Formula 1, the “Eau Rouge,” a left hander that is followed by an uphill right hander called “Raidillon.” This is the most challenging part of the circuit and has caused many crashes in the past, also due to the weather, as 16 races in the history of the circuit have been affected by rain. Among this, there is the infamous 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, which went down as the shortest race in Formula 1 history, as it was suspended after two laps behind the safety car.

British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix is among the longest-standing traditions in Formula 1, as it has been held every year since the inception of the competition in 1950. The race happens every year in July at Silverstone, United Kingdom, and it belongs to the first half of the calendar.

Just like Spa, this race has been affected by sinister weather many times, with the rain often causing damage even in the fans section. Ferrari is the constructor with the most wins at the circuit with 18, while British drivers dominate the individual rankings. Five British drivers have won the race multiple times, with Jim Clark and Nigel Mansell having won it five and four times, respectively. The winningest driver in Formula 1 history, Lewis Hamilton, has shattered those records, winning eight times on home soil.

São Paulo Grand Prix

The São Paulo Grand Prix closes out the list of the biggest races in Formula 1. Despite the changes in the calendar in recent years which have pushed it back by a couple of weeks, this race is still crucial to decide the final standings.

Similarly to the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, Brazil, always receives incredible flows of fans due to the local attachment to the sport. This is mainly due to the motorsport cult started by legendary drivers such as Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, and Ayrton Senna. McLaren is the winningest constructor at Interlagos, with 12 wins, while Alain Prost holds the drivers’ record, with six wins. In 2008, the Grand Prix was the theater of a dramatic finish to F1 seasons, with local driver Felipe Massa losing the drivers’ title to Lewis Hamilton by one point following the Interlagos race.

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