Character is related to age, patina, and layers of history. Some of the new cicuits will acquire character as they get adjusted and tweaked over the years. At the moment they are a litte too new and clinical. Hopefully some ground settlement will start to have an effect in a few years on the tracks on reclaimed/improved land. Then they'll have "characater".
I have to admit that Bahrain with it's cuttings through the desert sandstone appeals to me, it conjours an image of the the driver out in the wildernsss just like the European forest tracks.
I like the circuit in China (the racing is usually eventful) but all those empty grandstands is embarsessing. They'd be better to have some open countryside.
I used to think the "newness" and the unfortunate designer having to fill a blank sheet of paper was the problem, but then Valencia came along. I've never been so bored. Even the bumpy swing bridge fails to spice things up. Apalling sight lines for the cameras. Relatively few fans. Compare it to the street circuits of Montreal, Melbourne and Monaco. (and Spa with its infamous bus stop!).
As for driving across a car park, that is literally the case in Melbourne (look at the left end of the lake, below the football pitch). You could still see the car park markings in the race this year and I recall a few cars had problems at that bit of the track. What we need is more car parks! (and bus stops).
