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Chicane

Car culture term

What is Chicane?

A chicane is a tight, S-shaped sequence of turns added to a track to slow cars down, often placed before a straight for safety or to create overtaking opportunities.

A chicane is a short series of tight, alternating-direction turns, typically forming an S or zigzag shape, deliberately inserted into a racetrack layout to force drivers to slow down and change direction quickly. Unlike a track's natural corners, which follow the circuit's overall layout, chicanes are usually artificial additions built specifically to control speed at a particular point on the circuit, most often just before or along a long straight where cars would otherwise reach their highest speeds.

Chicanes serve several purposes in circuit design. Safety is the most common justification, since a chicane added ahead of a run-off area, pit entry, or dangerous section can reduce the speed at which cars approach that point, lowering the severity of potential incidents. Chicanes are also used to shorten a circuit's effective lap distance without rebuilding the entire layout, and some are added specifically to break up a long straight and create a braking zone that offers a genuine overtaking opportunity, since a straight alone without a slow corner at the end of it does not necessarily produce good passing chances.

Well known examples include the Bus Stop chicane and the Variante Ascari at Monza, and various chicanes added to Le Mans's Mulsanne Straight starting in the 1990s specifically to reduce the top speeds cars were reaching on that stretch, which had become a serious safety concern. Chicanes are a common feature of Formula 1, DTM, BTCC, IMSA, and WEC circuits, and many permanent tracks have had chicanes added, modified, or removed over the decades as governing bodies reassess safety and racing quality.

Related terms

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Frequently asked questions

What is the purpose of a chicane?
Chicanes force drivers to slow down and change direction quickly, most often to improve safety ahead of a dangerous section, to reduce top speeds on a long straight, or to create a braking zone that offers a real overtaking opportunity.
Are chicanes part of a track's original design?
Not usually. Chicanes are often added to an existing circuit layout after the fact, frequently in response to a specific safety concern, such as the chicanes added to Le Mans's Mulsanne Straight in the 1990s to reduce dangerously high top speeds.
What is a famous chicane example?
Monza's Variante Ascari and the Rettifilo chicane, also called the Bus Stop, are among the most well known in Formula 1, both designed to slow cars significantly at points where the circuit's natural layout would otherwise allow very high speeds.
Do chicanes make racing better or worse?
Opinions vary among drivers and fans. Well designed chicanes can create genuine overtaking opportunities and improve safety, but poorly placed or overly artificial chicanes are sometimes criticized for disrupting a circuit's natural flow and rhythm.
Is a chicane the same as an esses section?
They are related but distinct. An esses section refers to a naturally flowing series of alternating curves that are part of a circuit's original layout, while a chicane is typically a tighter, more deliberately restrictive addition built specifically to slow cars down.
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