New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nThe facilities too were well up to standard, allowing the sport to welcome the myriad VIP attendees that are now part and parcel of Formula 1\u2019s destination-city model \u2014 and the Madring, less than 10km from the middle of Madrid, is practically the poster track for the concept.<\/p>\n
But then the lights went out, and all the goodwill generated through the weekend evaporated.<\/p>\n
The 57-lap race featured just six overtakes after the first lap. That\u2019s fewer than this year\u2019s Monaco Grand Prix, which featured 11 \u2014 almost twice as many \u2014 according to the Forix motorsport database.<\/p>\n
Half of the six were frontrunning cars passing slower machinery.<\/p>\n
Lando Norris\u2019s frustration perhaps best encapsulated the difficulty overtaking. The reigning champion was comfortably the fastest driver on track, but even with a considerable pace advantage, he was unable to make any progress from the net third place he was dumped into by the bad timing of the virtual safety car.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri was another example. His late pit stop dropped him behind a gaggle of midfield drivers that at any other circuit he would have comfortably sliced through, even with his damaged front wing. Instead he could pass only Arvid Lindblad with great difficulty, while Franco Colapinto proved immovable.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s why the podium jeopardy was limited even when the top four drivers closed to within just five seconds of each other late in the race. Without a significant error from any of them, there was no real prospect of passing.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Bortoleto, one of the midfield drivers who toiled in vain through the middle of the race, gave the event its unfortunate caption.<\/p>\n
\u201cI almost fell asleep!\u201d he quipped, underlining the problem at the heart of F1\u2019s shiny new race.<\/p>\n
Horror pit stop costs Norris the lead | 00:44<\/p>\n
A MESSY ORIGIN STORY<\/p>\n
Not every race is a classic, and no circuit is guaranteed to create thrillers, but drivers had been warning in the lead-up to the weekend that the circuit layout would not be conducive to exciting racing.<\/p>\n
It was a situation made all the more frustrating because of the circuit\u2019s new-build status. Though the design was restrained in part by using some public roads, much of it was designed fresh, including a significant portion constructed on vacant land.<\/p>\n
The track\u2019s gestation wasn\u2019t as smooth as it could have been, though.<\/p>\n
The race was confirmed in January 2024, and construction did not begin until April 2025. The original design was conducted by circuit architectural firm Studio Dromo, but at the end of 2025 race organisers switched to the Tilke Group, whose signature is on 20 other past or present F1 circuits.<\/p>\n
Dromo has taken the matter to court, with legal action ongoing.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t the only instance of political messiness in the circuit\u2019s short history, which itself began as a pitch to pinch the race from rival city Barcelona.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s clearly a complex political situation that organisers have had to deal with.<\/p>\n
Just one glimpse into the situation: on Sunday after the race the Spanish transport minister, \u00d3scar Puente, labelled the event an \u201cabsolute dud\u201d as part of something of a tirade against the organising of the race.<\/p>\n
Puente is from the opposing side of politics to the president of the Madrid autonomous region, Isabel D\u00edaz Ayuso, who has accused critics of the race of hating Spain. She has also said the national symbolism at the track, in particular the giant Spanish flag, will have \u201cthe woke\u201d calling the Madring \u201ca fascist circuit\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, and concerning strictly racing matters, the FIA was becoming so concerned about the possibility there would be no overtaking during the race that it made a series of proposals for change directly to circuit organisers, according to The Race.<\/p>\n
Those proposals were knocked back, however, because the build timeline was already so tight, in part because of weather disruptions during the northern winter. The need to have a new layout tested and approved could have risked the track not being finished in time for the grand prix, which would have been even worse than hosting a dull race.<\/p>\n
It could be worth noting here that there was no mention of simulation work undertaken during the circuit design phase. While undoubtedly some simulation had to have taken place, at previous new events F1 has boasted about the tens of alternative layouts simulated before arriving at the final design. Miami, for example, was the result of 36 different configurations, while the current Las Vegas track is one of 31 canvassed alternatives.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to talk down what was delivered. The track clearly is very challenging to drive, and qualifying was spectacular.<\/p>\n
But a great qualifying track isn\u2019t necessarily a great racing track \u2014 the extreme example is Monaco, Formula 1\u2019s greatest one-lap spectacle but almost always its least exciting race.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s something of a truism that if you were to propose Monte Carlo today, you\u2019d be laughed out of the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like faster Monaco,\u201d Bortoleto said, summing up Madrid\u2019s problem.<\/p>\n
“Tell me if you’re going to fix it!” | 00:48<\/p>\n
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS?<\/p>\n
Of course Monte Carlo and the Madring share no real similarities beyond the lack of action, with the former slow and serpentine and the latter fast and sweeping.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s the way the track is fast and sweeping that\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou only have to look at the layout, and it\u2019s quite clear that it\u2019s going to be a poor track for racing\u201d, Oliver Bearman said, per Autosport.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only do you have a lot of long combined exits where it\u2019s really tough to put power down, but you have a lot of combined entries as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very easy to drive a bit dangerously defending your position and therefore very hard to send an overtake.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also the problem of having many braking zones \u2014 in particular those that were supposed to be key overtaking spots \u2014 not being straight, demanding that drivers steer while slowing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to learn that it should never be that you have to steer [when braking], that you have to combine under braking, because it doesn\u2019t allow any kind of overtaking,\u201d Verstappen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think also input from drivers in the future on track design can also help a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also visibility problems at some corners, where elevation and barrier placement makes them blind.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s an error generator in qualifying, but being unable to see where you\u2019re going heavily dissuades drivers from attempting to line up a pass.<\/p>\n
\u201cSame as in Jeddah and Baku, it\u2019s poor,\u201d Carlos Sainz said, per The Race.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it seems like the FIA is happy to go in this direction moving forward in terms of new circuits, which obviously, as drivers, we are raising our \u2014 not concerns, but our point of wanting to keep improving safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to go towards these circuits because going at 260km\/h, 270km\/h on esses that you cannot see through is definitely eye-opening and definitely makes you question how safe everything is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sainz, born and raised in Madrid, is an ambassador of the Madring race.<\/p>\n
There are some other elements that made the first event particularly dull too.<\/p>\n
One is the tyre-tarmac combination. The soft and medium compounds were extremely fragile in the race, with debilitating graining prevalent in the first stint. The hard, though, appeared to barely degrade at all. Once everyone was on the hard tyre, there was very little that could be done to differentiate performance between closely matched cars.<\/p>\n
There was also no incentive to make more than one pit stop owing to the Madring having the longest pit lane in the sport, with a commensurately big time loss \u2014 and given the difficulty overtaking, no-one wanted to risk being dropped into traffic. <\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso also suggested the track\u2019s centrepiece corner, the banked La Monumental, was completely unchallenging because the hybrid engine\u2019s battery was flat by then, meaning the corner was easily full throttle despite speed plateauing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is sad,\u201d he said. \u201cThe driver input is just nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
There could also have been a \u2018Baku factor\u2019 to it all, with drivers dialling down the risk after having seen safety cars and red flags in FP3 as well as in Formula 2 and Formula 3 on the undercard.<\/p>\n
The first race in Azerbaijan was dull despite \u2014 or because of \u2014 expectations for chaos, but subsequent races have been dependably good.<\/p>\n
Lando refuses to ditch the Coca-Cola! | 00:17<\/p>\n
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s no getting away from the layout itself being the chief problem. Though they forecast more crashes, drivers predicted a dull grand prix long before the lights went out.<\/p>\n
The good news is that race organisers will make changes for 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing honest with you, the FIA defined clearly which is the way to improve the track layout, and we will be open because we will have to reinstall the track for the next year,\u201d Spanish Grand Prix managing director Luis Garcia Abad told Autosport.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI really believe that the drivers enjoyed qualifying a lot. But for sure we will try to make an improvement for next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the space, we have a venue, we have the facilities, we have the capacity to do it. I\u2019m sure that FOM [Formula One Management], FIA and ourselves, we will try.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can improve something, we will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The key area of attention is the turn 5-6 chicane.<\/p>\n
This clumsy, high-kerb section was designated as the key overtaking spot because it follows the longest straight on the circuit, but its approach requires drivers to brake while turning, and the line through the chicane is too narrow to facilitate a pass. A defending driver could comfortably just hold the middle line and know they were safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely doesn\u2019t create overtaking opportunities and it doesn\u2019t push you to try and make a move because you know 80 per cent of the time you might have a contact,\u201d Antonelli said.<\/p>\n
Turn 13, the medium-speed 90-degree left hander that follows La Monumental, could also be made shaper and therefore slower to make it a bigger braking event that encourages passing.<\/p>\n
Turn 20, where Lance Stroll parked his Aston Martin, is another area for attention given how tight it is, whereas a more open corner could encourage passing.<\/p>\n
Norris advocated for bigger changes to that part of the track beyond simple reprofiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should get rid of [turns] 18, 19 \u2014 useless,\u201d he said. \u201cJust have more of a straight into a hairpin.<\/p>\n
\u201cStraight line from 17 straight to 20, have a much wider entry, like Austin turn 1 or turn 10 \u2026 big hairpin. You\u2019ll create much better opportunities for everyone and you\u2019ll be able to enjoy the race. \u201c<\/p>\n
Such a sweeping change is probably impossible, though, given the track is both hemmed in by the convention centre and must pass underneath a freeway, the underpass for which was built specifically for the track.<\/p>\n
The Madring is starting from rock bottom, but a circuit needs only one good overtaking opportunity to unlock an infinitely better spectacle. Only one of those changes have to work.<\/p>\n
With another nine seasons to run under this contract, it\u2019s absolutely critical that one of them does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new home of the Spanish Grand Prix had been delivering Formula 1 everything it wanted on Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-892213","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\/892213","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=892213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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