Tilke defends himself against all criticism: 'I can't design freely everywhere'

Not every race is exciting

Hermann Tilke is the regular designer for Formula 1. If a new circuit has to be designed, the German is usually the man who is asked. On the current calendar, there are many tracks created by Tilke. With the Red Bull Ring, the circuits in Shanghai, Bahrain and Istanbul, but also the street races in Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Azerbaijan are by Tilke.

The fact that not every circuit of Tilke is a success is, according to him, only logical. ''There is no such thing as the perfect circuit and every football match is not great either. Some circuits are a bit more boring than others. Take the Red Bull Ring. It has good dynamics for racing and is ideal for overtaking. That's why you often see fun races there,'' says Tilke.

Tilke bound by rules

According to the designer, however, it is not so easy to achieve this everywhere. ''Sochi tends more towards boring races yes, but the track is in the middle of an Olympic Park and we didn't have much freedom. The Olympics had priority and that didn't make it an easy project. There were also some external factors in Abu Dhabi''.

Tilke explains to Der Standard what had to be done in Abu Dhabi. ''The Yas Hotel had to be incorporated into the circuit and on three-quarters of the building, they said the building would double in size. All the other parts had to be fitted in, so we couldn't work with slopes or curves, which would have made it more dynamic,'' concludes the German.