Former "North curve" of AVUS circuit (Berlin)

In an effort to make AVUS the world's fastest race track, the north curve (known as "Nordkurve") was turned into a steep banking (43°) made of bricks. In 1954, this shorter track hosted a non-championship Formula One race which was mainly a show by the Mercedes-Benz team, as no serious competition was present. In 1959, AVUS hosted its only World Championship F1 race, the 1959 German Grand Prix, won by Tony Brooks. This race weekend also saw the death of Jean Behra, as his Porsche flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. German driver and journalist Richard von Frankenberg had previously walked away from a similar spectacular crash.

This banking, which was considered dangerous by international racing standards, was dismantled in 1967 to give way to an expanded intersection under the Funkturm tower. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight. Racing was continued with a flat north turn, but AVUS only held national touring cars DTM and Formula 3 events.