TRACK DAY AT HOME – CIRCUITS YOU CAN GOOGLE STREET VIEW AROUND

This is an article written by my guest this week, Tom Jeffries author of BMX Racing with an interest in motorsports photography and Formula 1 on behalf of Puma hotels. It's about certain tracks which can be street viewed via Google. Interesting.

Have you ever wondered what the tarmac on the Curva Parabolica at Monza looks like? How about the apex at Stowe corner? Well wonder no more – we take you through the tracks you can look at on Google Street View.

Silverstone, Britain 

Where better to start than our home Grand Prix? The Street View bike (yes, bike!) follows the Nissan pace car (which makes an appearance in every photo round the track) around the circuit to give you a look at what it’s like to go round the current version of Silverstone. Due to there not being the usual 100,000+ fans packing the stands, it has a strangely empty look to it.

Here is a video as well, looks nice.

Monza, Italy 

Whilst we know we’ll (unfortunately) never drive a lap of the Monza circuit, we can imagine what it’s like thanks to GSV. The car does a sedate lap of the famously fast circuit, and gives us a great view of the always-interesting first chicane.

Montreal, Canada 

The Gilles Viellneuve Circuit in Canada is another addition to GSV’s racing CV. One thing it captures that you won’t see on race day is a speed limit sign after the second corner! We can only imagine what it’s like having to do only 30 around such an historicly fast circuit. You can also get about as close as you’d want to get to the wall of champions.

Suzuka, Japan 

The Japanese circuit has always been an interesting one, and is now one you can drive for yourself (albeit using your mouse instead of your car.) Highlights include going round 130r, the first corner which saw Alonso taken out last year and the iconic final chicane with the Ferris wheel in the background.

Sao Paulo, Brazil 

The Interlagos circuit is the final stop for the Formula 1 season, and the final stop for the Google Street View car. Doing a full lap of the circuit it takes in the entire track, however Kimi Raikkonen’s “detour” from the 2012 season is not included.

Unlike the Formula 1 season, the Google Street View season only has five races. Going by the amount of competition, it looks like the GSV car beat Vettel’s record and took every win possible (even if the Silverstone race was under pace car.) Whilst not the fastest, it does give a good insight into what it’s like to go round a track, and lets you have a look at the tracks in more detail. Have a go today! 

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