5 Nurburgring Nordschleife

Vote: 11.6%

Surely no track ever combined the extremes of thrill and peril like the 14-mile Nurburgring Nordschleife. “The Green Hell”, as Jackie Stewart aptly named it, wound and rippled through trees and hedges. To this day it has a legend and mystique that is unmatched.

It was the scene of plenty of tragedy, but also of drives from the Gods wherein the greatest would face the track’s dangers and, that time, prevail. Juan Manuel Fangio’s other-worldly comeback drive in 1957 and Stewart’s win by four minutes in 1968’s rain and fog spring to mind.

But the circuit’s danger could not be defied forever, particular not in an increasingly safety conscious Formula 1. Niki Lauda’s fiery near-fatal accident in 1976 brought into sharp focus concerns about the extent rescue crews could cover its extended layout. F1’s fraternity did not return to the Nordschleife.