The new Formula One season is just over a week away, and the teams and drivers are putting the final preparations in place ahead of the first race.
It’s fair to say that Formula One can get pretty boring at times. Yes, the drivers are racing around a track at 200mph in million-pound cars, but it can get very repetitive.
Luckily, the Formula One season visits some of the most luxurious and exotic locations the world has to offer. It is the rich man’s sport, after all.
So, even if the idea of watching cars circling a track for two hours fills you with horror, which F1 destinations should you head for during the season?
Monaco
Probably the biggest race in the F1 calendar, the great and the good attend the Monaco Grand Prix in their thousands each year for a weekend of sun, champagne and high-octane racing.
Taking place in the streets of Monte Carlo, the Monaco Grand Prix is on 27 May this year. It might be time to remortgage the house and enjoy a weekend of the high life in the tax haven.
Abu Dhabi
A fairly recent addition to the F1 racing calendar, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been running since 2009. Its inaugural race was the first in F1’s history to be a day-night race.
Abu Dhabi has been the setting for the final race of the season in the past, but is the third-to-last this year, on 4 November.
China
Another relatively new arrival to the F1 calendar, the Chinese Grand Prix started back in 2004. The race is held at the Shanghai International Circuit – one of the most expensive F1 tracks ever built.
The Chinese Grand Prix is the third race of the season, held on 15 April this year. The multi-million pound track has to be seen to be believed.
Bahrain
The first ever Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East was in Bahrain, after the country fought off competition from Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates to stage the event in 2004.
The Grand Prix was cancelled last year after unrest in the country, but it’s back this year – taking place on 22 April.
(Images: Mark Hinsta, Wisam Allami, thepocket, Derek Morrison)
