Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Race understands some F3 teams were less than impressed by having to test there, because the damaged parts list was very long.<\/p>\n
But that F3 test was highly valuable as a pilot episode for F1\u2019s Madrid event, one requested by the circuit organiser to try to avoid the kind of issues that plagued Las Vegas\u2019s debut when errant drain covers disrupted practice, wrecked Carlos Sainz\u2019s Ferrari and infuriated team principal Fred Vasseur.<\/p>\n
The chaotic F3 test has also acted as a warning sign for F1 teams and drivers about how much of a challenge it will be.<\/p>\n
Ferrari conducted an F1 filming day there back in July, but that was on a much rougher version of the circuit, so the F3 running was the first proper test for the venue.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s worrying F1 teams and drivers is that the 19 red flags in F3 were scattered throughout the circuit (see below). It means there isn\u2019t just one danger zone to navigate, as there are so many places where you can come unstuck and find yourself with a hefty repair bill.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Sequence-01.00_01_47_21.Still002.png\")
<\/p>\n
With many teams working out their remaining development budget within the 2026 cost cap, the last thing they\u2019ll want is a wrecked car.<\/p>\n
The danger zones<\/p>\n
We spoke to several F3 drivers and teams to find out why the Madring is so challenging in so many different ways and why there were so many red flags.<\/p>\n
Asked why it\u2019s so challenging, Audi-backed F3 championship leader Freddie Slater told The Race: \u201cBecause the corners that are there, they’re so tight and they’re not forgiving and also the walls come at you on the exit of the corners. They don’t go away from you like most tracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou’re always coming out of the corner and trying to drive away from it instead of maximising, so it’s a very tricky track to get in the rhythm of things.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to push otherwise you’re slow. So I think that’s why it creates so many crashes because if you don’t push you’re just not on the limit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut honestly it’s probably one of the best tracks on the calendar in my opinion, just because it’s got that old-school feeling to it. Kind of like some of the old-school UK tracks, Macau, places like that. So I’m really excited to have the [F3 championship] finale there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Madring lap starts with a slow-speed chicane akin to Jeddah\u2019s, followed by a flat-out blast through Turns 3 and 4, which builds up into the first real danger zone – the second chicane.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a high-speed chicane where the wall certainly comes at you on the exit, and it was the site of many a crumpled F3 car in the test.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s where there’s so much laptime because there’s uphill section after that, so there’s so much laptime to gain going uphill,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s why I see a lot of people risking obviously for maximum laptime but also it’s probably the place where the most crashes are.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso the kerbs are not very forgiving so you have to get it correct otherwise, you’re going to end up crashing.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s essentially an even harder version of the now-removed triple-apex Singapore Sling where the trajectory is ‘head-first into the wall if you get it slightly wrong’. It\u2019s not anything like some of the laps in the virtual world make it look where you\u2019re able to effortlessly skip over the kerbs.<\/p>\n
And the entry to the chicane is one of only two straight mode zones on the circuit, so drivers will be arriving at around 340km\/h (211mph). It\u2019s certainly not the kind of place you\u2019d want a straight mode failure like those on Max Verstappen\u2019s Red Bull earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Negotiate that wall and you drive beneath the underpass and start climbing uphill through another tricky session that also claimed many an F3 car as a victim.<\/p>\n
The standout feature of the circuit is the banked La Monumental corner but actually the corners just before it caught out just as many F3 drivers in the test.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a tight chicane followed by a quick right\/left in quick succession at Turns 10 and 11 that\u2019s very easy to get wrong.<\/p>\n
That then propels you into La Monumental, a 24% banked corner that dwarfs the challenge of Zandvoort\u2019s banked turns.<\/p>\n
Pirelli\u2019s chief engineer Simone Berra labelled it \u201cthe most severe turn\u201d in the championship and when The Race asked him how it compared to Zandvoort\u2019s banking, Berra said La Monumental places 20 to 30% higher energy on the tyres.<\/p>\n
Plus it has a completely blind exit and it\u2019s grip-limited rather than power-limited like Zandvoort\u2019s banked corner is, i.e. it\u2019s a huge strain on the tyres and cars to give the drivers the grip they need.<\/p>\n
F3 drivers were trying lots of different lines during the test and expect F1 drivers to do the same on Friday.<\/p>\n
“It feels like I’m in an IndyCar [on an oval],” Slater told The Race.<\/p>\n
“So yeah, it’s pretty cool. It’s just about flat, probably, in a Formula 3 car. I think it’s going to be a little bit more difficult in your Formula 2 and maybe even Formula 1.<\/p>\n
“But it’s quite difficult to get the right line because obviously where the crest is, the bottoming can get quite bad. It looks an easy corner when you look at it but actually to drive it, it’s quite a difficult corner to get the rhythm.”<\/p>\n
La Monumental only marks the halfway point in the lap and there are plenty more challenging corners after that, like the tight Turn 17 right-hander.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s very little breathing room around the lap and going conservative doesn\u2019t work either.<\/p>\n
Monza F3 sprint race winner Taito Kato explained: \u201cIf you want to gain laptime, you have to push until you\u2019re close to the wall, so it\u2019s risky but fun to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is it dangerous?<\/p>\n
F1 drivers were swapping first impressions of Madrid on the drivers\u2019 parade at Monza, with Sainz revealing \u201ceveryone seemed quite shocked by the track that Madrid has come up with\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sainz, who is an ambassador for this grand prix, explained he meant shocked in terms of F1 adding a track that has actual character, as opposed to some of the blander street tracks that have joined the calendar in recent years.<\/p>\n
And while he acknowledges it\u2019s been an F3 car killer, it remains to be seen whether it will be an F1 car killer.<\/p>\n
Sainz did also say \u201cwe are all expecting safety cars, red flags and yellow flags in qualifying\u201d.<\/p>\n
Audi F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto said: \u201cIt looks like a very interesting track, dangerous track, but at the same time very challenging and it’s nice to race in a new track like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if it was dangerous, Sergio Perez pointed out: \u201cI don’t think it’s any more dangerous than Jeddah, to be honest\u201d.<\/p>\n
Of course, Jeddah has sometimes been a car-killer too, with big accidents like Mick Schumacher\u2019s huge qualifying crash in 2022 that meant he couldn\u2019t race his Haas the next day.<\/p>\n
So \u201cnot any more dangerous\u201d still leaves an awful lot of room for it to be really brutal on the cars.<\/p>\n
With a high risk factor, there is hope that drivers will be able to make a difference, plus the layout is very technical and there are so many low-speed corners.<\/p>\n
Arvid Lindblad labelled it “a real drivers\u2019 track\u201d and there\u2019s predictions of an edge-of-the-seat qualifying with razor-thin margins and the potential for a Monza-like surprise.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s those same reasons that are leading to fears about the Sunday product.<\/p>\n
Race day fears<\/p>\n
So expect a nail-biting qualifying in Madrid, but there are concerns the grand prix could be something of a procession.<\/p>\n
With such tight corners, very few straights and a lack of heavy braking zones, there are not many obvious overtaking opportunities.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty of recharge opportunities around the lap so you\u2019d expect a more traditional F1 race like Hungary than the overtaking bonanzas of Monza, Silverstone or Spa.<\/p>\n
Alex Albon even joked, \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s going to be any overtaking. I hope you guys got your fix in [Monza] and ignore next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, chaos could liven up the race if there are safety car or red flag interventions.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s also the element of F2 and F3 racing there this weekend too, having five races between them before F1\u2019s grand prix. F3 is holding its title-decider too, so there\u2019s an added element of this being the last chance for that grid to impress future employers.<\/p>\n
Remember 10 years ago for F1\u2019s first race in Baku, F2 predecessor GP2 had probably its craziest round ever before the F1 grand prix, with 17 retirements across the two races because of accidents.<\/p>\n
The F1 drivers at the time were consequently cautious in their race and it turned out to be a dull debut, with the predicted Baku F1 chaos coming in subsequent years instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grand prix was boring, right? Yeah, I remember. I was there in 2016 in Baku and I think F1 drivers, we tend to be a bit more disciplined in these things,\u201d Sainz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe obviously have bigger responsibilities in the fact that we represent a thousand people at the factory building those cars and we need to be a bit more careful with the material.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we have also sometimes parts constraints and we have more experience also, so we also drive faster cars, which normally if anything is easier to crash.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut yeah, we tend to have a bit more discipline with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso from a safety and circuit recommendation perspective, I think even by watching an FP1 live, we could almost sometimes text the race director and say this kerb there doesn’t make sense, it’s going to generate a crash or a bad moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can help the race director and the FIA learn through the weekend with us as we observe the same kind of patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n
It does feel almost inevitable somebody will be caught out this weekend. And there aren\u2019t many places around here where you can get it wrong and emerge unscathed.<\/p>\n
Whichever way it goes, Sainz has urged his fellow drivers not to be too quick to judge the circuit\u2019s merits, calling for a \u201cgood debrief\u201d after the race of what can be improved in the future.<\/p>\n
Sainz said F1 does \u201cneed to see if it\u2019s [producing] a bit too much\u201d chaos and he expects there will be things that \u201cgo greatly, and other things that don\u2019t go as well\u201d.<\/p>\n
He pointed out Miami had what he called a \u201cbit of a disaster\u201d of a debut in 2022 before turning into a \u201cgreat grand prix\u201d, so he wants that same patience for Madrid.<\/p>\n
But with so many cities vying for grands prix now, Madrid will want to make an immediate impact to justify its place on the calendar, even if it does have a 10-year contract.<\/p>\n
Its car-killing traits and old-school characteristics should make for a thrilling qualifying session. The main question is whether the racing spectacle can live up to that on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1\u2019s new Spanish Grand Prix venue has been described as a \u201ccar killer\u201d. The first-ever race at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-885718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}