An except from our newest “Top Sixes” feature — 6 Top Lost F1 Circuits.
Montjuïc
Circuit de Montjuïc Park
This gorgeous and challenging former street circuit located just outside Barcelona, Spain, had a long history in motor racing. The Gran Premio Penya Rhin was held at Montjuïc starting in 1933 — with legendary “Little Great Man” Tazio Nuvolari winning the classic 1936 contest in his Alfa Romeo against the powerful German teams of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union. After World War II, the foundations for Montjuïc Circuit to be reborn were laid when the Montjuïc Cup for Sports Cars, and the Nuvolari Trophy, hosted international races once again. 
When F1 returned in 1969, alternating annually with Madrid’s Jarama, it arrived with some of the turmoil that would eventually spoil the circuit for Grand Prix racing. High-mounted, manually adjustable rear wings wings had just been introduced into Formula One. During the GP, Graham Hill lost control when the wing collapsed and crashed his Lotus into the guardrail. Leading on lap 11, teammate Jochen Rindt’s car went off at the exact same spot, plummeting down into the wreckage of Hill, to retire the Team Lotus contingent. (The ultra-consistent Jackie Stewart won in a Matra-Cosworth after Chris Amon’s Ferrari retired with an engine failure.) Wings were thereafter banned for Monaco and the balance of the ’69 championship series.
When F1 returned in 1969, alternating annually with Madrid’s Jarama, it arrived with some of the turmoil that would eventually spoil the circuit for Grand Prix racing. High-mounted, manually adjustable rear wings wings had just been introduced into Formula One. During the GP, Graham Hill lost control when the wing collapsed and crashed his Lotus into the guardrail. Leading on lap 11, teammate Jochen Rindt’s car went off at the exact same spot, plummeting down into the wreckage of Hill, to retire the Team Lotus contingent. (The ultra-consistent Jackie Stewart won in a Matra-Cosworth after Chris Amon’s Ferrari retired with an engine failure.) Wings were thereafter banned for Monaco and the balance of the ’69 championship series.Montjuïc was like a street track out of your dreams. Faster, more varied and more challenging than Monaco, more picturesque as well. The variable character of the counterclockwise course (with one half slow and the other very fast) made setting the cars up correctly a major challenge. The backdrop was one of rich green foliage and flowers of the hill’s parkland 
interspersed by elegant architecture, with an abundance of domes and spires, most notably in the imposing and opulent Palau Nacional, around which the track circulated. And the rich blue Mediterranean lay beyond all of this. Frank Williams aptly described Montjuïc as “a great circuit for drivers requiring much courage…definitely for men and not for boys.” Yet its days in F1 were short, as safety controversies and tragedy plagued the 1975 Spanish GP.
interspersed by elegant architecture, with an abundance of domes and spires, most notably in the imposing and opulent Palau Nacional, around which the track circulated. And the rich blue Mediterranean lay beyond all of this. Frank Williams aptly described Montjuïc as “a great circuit for drivers requiring much courage…definitely for men and not for boys.” Yet its days in F1 were short, as safety controversies and tragedy plagued the 1975 Spanish GP.Everything looked good for the opening of the European season, except when time for practice arrived there were no drivers — they were all out on the tarmac with Emerson Fittipaldi, pointing out that the guardrails and debris nets were badly fixed, many bolts missing altogether, others lacking plates under the heads to stop them pulling through the holes in the rails. 
With five miles of double row armco in the park and something like 500,000 bolts and fixings, instant action was a bit unrealistic. Memorably, on race day morning, Ken Tyrrell himself went out onto the circuit with a wrench to personally make sure the barriers were how they should be. The result was a near boycott by a newly formed Grand Prix Drivers Association (Fittipaldi had already returned to his home in Switzerland) and then a calamitous race in which Rolf Stommelen, leading as he started lap 26, crashed into the barriers at 150 mph, taking down a lamppost and a length of wire debris net as his Lola destroyed itself. Miraculously, Stommelen was still alive, but with a fire marshal and four spectators killed and 10 more injured, the race was red flagged and only half points awarded. Montjuic was dropped as a World Championship venue and the location later was significantly redeveloped for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, although in 2004 the city installed a commemorative plaque memorializing the layout of the old circuit. Satellite View.
With five miles of double row armco in the park and something like 500,000 bolts and fixings, instant action was a bit unrealistic. Memorably, on race day morning, Ken Tyrrell himself went out onto the circuit with a wrench to personally make sure the barriers were how they should be. The result was a near boycott by a newly formed Grand Prix Drivers Association (Fittipaldi had already returned to his home in Switzerland) and then a calamitous race in which Rolf Stommelen, leading as he started lap 26, crashed into the barriers at 150 mph, taking down a lamppost and a length of wire debris net as his Lola destroyed itself. Miraculously, Stommelen was still alive, but with a fire marshal and four spectators killed and 10 more injured, the race was red flagged and only half points awarded. Montjuic was dropped as a World Championship venue and the location later was significantly redeveloped for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, although in 2004 the city installed a commemorative plaque memorializing the layout of the old circuit. Satellite View.
Thanks for the piece on Montjuic. We hope to visit Barcelona in the spring of 2022 and I hope to take a tour of the old circuit.