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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we’re wondering if a hot lap around the Madring would be fun or terrifying. Leaning toward the latter.

It’s Spanish GP week! Madrid week. We’re in Madrid. I’m Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly. Let’s get to it.

Madridn’t Know, But Now We Do: Random notes from first Madrid runnings

After a year or so of waiting, we finally saw F1 cars on track at the new Madring circuit for the new Spanish GP at today’s practice session. You can re-live our live coverage here!

Here’s what I jotted down over FP1 and FP2:

I am a little worried this track will fall into the “fun to drive, not fun to watch on TV” races. (A la Zandvoort, Monaco). Fast, technically interesting, lots of elevation and banking changes. Real Hot Wheels energy. But where will the overtakes come from? Likely pit lane …
Also a little worried about the potential for a bad accident here. There are a few blind corners, and the banking is blind, too. The drivers kept getting surprised by each other in practice. Carlos Sainz nearly collected Lewis Hamilton in FP1, and Hamilton racked up four traffic incidents in that session alone. Fernando Alonso caught a slow Cadillac in FP2. Expect some impeding penalties in qualifying, and hope that’s the worst of it.
Turn 5 and 6:

Overtaking looks bleak. Alex Albon warned us yesterday that the braking zones are too angled, and the corners too combined — it’s pretty easy to drive mid-track and nobody will get by you. Battery deployment race.
Aston Martin’s Mike Krack described the set-up challenges here: You either go stiffer for the high-speed banking or softer for the curbs. Can’t do both.
But good golly, La Monumental looks so cool. Check this out:

Now, what to know about the racing:

Mercedes look like the team to beat, but Ferrari isn’t far off. George Russell topped FP1, and Kimi Antonelli topped FP2. But Charles Leclerc and Hamilton were within two-tenths. Qualifying could be a barnburner.
It could also be a mess. With the high speeds in Madrid, the room for error here makes Monaco look like running around in a bouncy castle. Arvid Lindblad already found the wall today, and plenty of others flirted with the barriers. Once drivers are really pushing, I think we see more than one car towed back to the garage.
McLaren may not be a factor here. Lando Norris had a gearbox problem and didn’t get much FP2 time in. Oscar Piastri was seventh-fastest, 0.538s off the leader.
How bad will tire deg get? Blistering temps in Madrid, combined with the load through La Monumental and the high-speed lefts, chewed up front-lefts all day may make this a management race more than anything. Pirelli’s Dario Marrafuschi isn’t convinced; he reckons the asphalt grip is good enough that deg comes in lower than feared. We shall see!
Tomorrow’s sessions: FP3 at 6:30 a.m. ET/11:30 a.m. UK. Then qualifying at 10 a.m. ET/3 p.m. UK. We’ll have live coverage throughout!
It’s Time For … What does it still look like?

I was going to do the thing where I show you the Madrid track layout and tell you that it looks like a wrench, but then I remembered I did that last year. So here’s that, again:

Anyway, Madeline did a corner-by-corner dive into the Madrid circuit and what drivers are saying. Read up here!

And now let’s throw it to Luke, in the paddock.

Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith

It’s always exciting to check out a track for the first time, especially when it’s one as hotly anticipated by the F1 grid as the Madring.

The new host of the Spanish GP has come a long way since I visited in June, back when there were big mounds of rubble and expanses of sand either side of the track, since replaced by grandstands and fan zones.

But it’s the track layout that has caused the most conversation among drivers, with hallmarks of a high-speed street circuit where bravery and confidence is going to be everything.

Luke Smith / The Athletic

I ventured trackside for practice today to get a taste of the track, walking the second half of the lap in reverse. The final sector feels a bit like the Sochi Autodrom, the host of the former Russian GP, but also similar to Miami, given the wider corners and long sweeps.

As I got further into my walk, it felt more like Jeddah, arguably F1’s most fearsome street track, thanks to the rapid changes of direction (especially around Turn 14-15). If any drivers lose control of their cars, they could end up in a big crash …

Madrid does, to me, have a bit more character than some of F1’s other newest street tracks. Two tunnels and the banked La Monumental corner do offer some flavor that we don’t get elsewhere.

What does that mean for the race? Well this isn’t going to be a circuit where overtaking is plentiful. But any mistake will most certainly be punished, meaning it could well bring chaos on Sunday.

Feedback Loop: Your thoughts on Hamilton/Leclerc drama

Earlier this week, I argued that Leclerc’s Monza defense against Hamilton was just hard racing. I then asked you to weigh in.

And now, the definitive, debate-settling results:

It’s No Big Deal: 1,042 votes

Not Cool, Leclerc: 1,317 votes

Hrm. That … doesn’t really settle it at all. It seems that 1,300 of you forgot to agree with me, Co-Lord of Prime Tire Town. I suppose I will forgive you.

A lot of you emailed in with arguments for and against. Thanks so much! I will get around to replying this weekend … but here’s some of what you had to say about the whole thing:

It’s no big deal

“What kind of racing would it be if LeClerc had backed off and let Hamilton go past him on the outside and lead him down the next straight? LeClerc would be forever considered a #2, not only from the pundits but also the rest of the paddock and the F1 fans around the world.” — Mike W.
“Was Lewis a tire length ahead at Turn 1? Yes. That doesn’t mean he owns the next corner (or the race).” — Hank A.
“I would lay down good money to say that if the roles were reversed, you can bet Lewis would have pushed Charles off into the gravel and not looked back! And after the race, Lewis would have been like ‘What?! What do you mean?! That’s racing!’” — Ted R.

Not cool, Leclerc

“Charles knew what he was doing when he refused to give Ham track space and in so doing sabotaged the team’s efforts for a higher finish in their home grand prix. It’s OK to be aggressive, but don’t be dirty.” — Kevin J.
“First, it’s a team sport, not a purely individual one. Second, in the opening turns of your home race, hold your team positions — there’s plenty of time to race and, at Monza, plenty of opportunities to overtake.” — Kevin T.
“This purity ‘let the boys race’ in a sport/business results in bad business and bad sports … a DNF and 6th place at their home race is a disaster, business and sport.” — Mark S.

I gotta say: I thought the reasoning in the disagree camp was just as sound as the folks who agreed with me. I think that’s part of what’s made this storyline fun to write about and discuss online. (Even Alex sort of disagreed with me in a column this week.) Doesn’t feel like there’s a settled answer here, in part because we’re all bringing what we value in racing, and understand F1 to be about, to this situation. Makes for good water cooler convo.

For Leclerc and Hamilton, it seems like they’re on the same page: If it hurts the team, it’s not worth it. As Luke wrote today, that doesn’t mean Ferrari can’t draw some clearer lines around this whole thing, so the drivers don’t have to police this themselves.

Outside the Points

👨‍👦 Kimi Raikkonen’s 11-year-old son has signed with Red Bull. His name is Robin, but he goes by “Ace.” He’s a kid, so I don’t want to pick on him … but, well, he’s a kid, so I guess I’ll say there’s still lots of time to work on the nickname.

👨‍👦 Remember, this is on the heels of Ella Häkkinen, Mika’s daughter, signing with McLaren in November. Everyone you loved watching racing growing up is old and has tiny versions of themselves now. *suddenly morphs into Werner Herzog* Their careers race ahead, as time marches on toward the inevitable conclusion: a final, silent universe, where the last particle drifts apart from its neighbor and there is no one left to time it. *morphs back* Whoa. Sorry guys. Dunno what happened there. Haven’t eaten lunch yet.

2️⃣ And, finally, on the heels of Antonelli’s all-time win last week, readers wanted to know: Uh, what now for Russell? Is he content with being a No. 2 driver? We answered here.

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