{"id":892218,"date":"2026-09-11T21:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/892218\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T21:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:20:13","slug":"bad-crashes-no-overtaking-fun-to-drive-observations-from-madring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/892218\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad crashes? No overtaking? Fun to drive? Observations from Madring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic\u2019s F1 newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox twice a week during the season and weekly in the offseason.<\/p>\n

Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we\u2019re wondering if a hot lap around the Madring<\/a> would be fun or terrifying. Leaning toward the latter.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Spanish GP week! Madrid week. We\u2019re in Madrid. I\u2019m Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly. Let\u2019s get to it.<\/p>\n

Madridn\u2019t Know, But Now We Do: Random notes from first Madrid runnings<\/p>\n

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\u2019s practice session. You can re-live our live coverage here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I jotted down over FP1 and FP2:<\/p>\n

I am a little worried this track will fall into the \u201cfun to drive, not fun to watch on TV\u201d 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 \u2026
\nAlso 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\u2019s the worst of it.
\nTurn 5 and 6:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Overtaking looks bleak. Alex Albon warned us yesterday that the braking zones are too angled, and the corners too combined \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s pretty easy to drive mid-track and nobody will get by you. Battery deployment race.
\nAston Martin\u2019s Mike Krack described the set-up challenges here: You either go stiffer for the high-speed banking or softer for the curbs. Can\u2019t do both.
\nBut good golly, La Monumental looks so cool. Check this out:<\/p>\n

Now, what to know about the racing:<\/p>\n

Mercedes look like the team to beat, but Ferrari isn\u2019t 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.
\nIt 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.
\nMcLaren may not be a factor here. Lando Norris had a gearbox problem and didn\u2019t get much FP2 time in. Oscar Piastri was seventh-fastest, 0.538s off the leader.
\nHow 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\u2019s Dario Marrafuschi isn\u2019t convinced; he reckons the asphalt grip is good enough that deg comes in lower than feared. We shall see!
\nTomorrow\u2019s 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\u2019ll have live coverage<\/a> throughout!
\nIt\u2019s Time For \u2026 What does it still look like?<\/p>\n

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\u2019s that, again:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Anyway, Madeline did a corner-by-corner dive<\/a> into the Madrid circuit and what drivers are saying. Read up here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

And now let\u2019s throw it to Luke, in the paddock.<\/p>\n

Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always exciting to check out a track for the first time, especially when it\u2019s one as hotly anticipated by the F1 grid as the Madring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Luke Smith \/ The Athletic<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

As I got further into my walk, it felt more like Jeddah, arguably F1\u2019s 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 \u2026<\/p>\n

Madrid does, to me, have a bit more character than some of F1\u2019s other newest street tracks. Two tunnels and the banked La Monumental corner do offer some flavor that we don\u2019t get elsewhere.<\/p>\n

What does that mean for the race? Well this isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Feedback Loop: Your thoughts on Hamilton\/Leclerc drama<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, I argued that Leclerc\u2019s Monza defense against Hamilton was just hard racing<\/a>. I then asked you to weigh in.<\/p>\n

And now, the definitive, debate-settling results:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s No Big Deal: 1,042 votes<\/p>\n

Not Cool, Leclerc: 1,317 votes<\/p>\n

Hrm. That \u2026 doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

A lot of you emailed in with arguments for and against. Thanks so much! I will get around to replying this weekend \u2026 but here\u2019s some of what you had to say about the whole thing:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no big deal<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat 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.\u201d \u2014 Mike W.
\n\u201cWas Lewis a tire length ahead at Turn 1? Yes. That doesn\u2019t mean he owns the next corner (or the race).\u201d \u2014 Hank A.
\n\u201cI 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 \u2018What?! What do you mean?! That\u2019s racing!’\u201d \u2014 Ted R.<\/p>\n

Not cool, Leclerc<\/p>\n

\u201cCharles knew what he was doing when he refused to give Ham track space and in so doing sabotaged the team\u2019s efforts for a higher finish in their home grand prix. It\u2019s OK to be aggressive, but don\u2019t be dirty.\u201d \u2014 Kevin J.
\u201cFirst, it\u2019s a team sport, not a purely individual one. Second, in the opening turns of your home race, hold your team positions \u2014 there\u2019s plenty of time to race and, at Monza, plenty of opportunities to overtake.\u201d \u2014 Kevin T.
\n\u201cThis purity \u2018let the boys race\u2019 in a sport\/business results in bad business and bad sports \u2026 a DNF and 6th place at their home race is a disaster, business and sport.\u201d \u2014 Mark S.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s part of what\u2019s made this storyline fun to write about and discuss online. (Even Alex sort of disagreed with me in a column this week.) Doesn\u2019t feel like there\u2019s a settled answer here, in part because we\u2019re all bringing what we value in racing, and understand F1 to be about, to this situation. Makes for good water cooler convo.<\/p>\n

For Leclerc and Hamilton, it seems like they\u2019re on the same page: If it hurts the team, it\u2019s not worth it. As Luke wrote today<\/a>, that doesn\u2019t mean Ferrari can\u2019t draw some clearer lines around this whole thing, so the drivers don\u2019t have to police this themselves.<\/p>\n

Outside the Points<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc68\u200d\ud83d\udc66 Kimi Raikkonen\u2019s 11-year-old son has signed with Red Bull<\/a>. His name is Robin, but he goes by \u201cAce.\u201d He\u2019s a kid, so I don\u2019t want to pick on him \u2026 but, well, he\u2019s a kid, so I guess I\u2019ll say there\u2019s still lots of time to work on the nickname.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc68\u200d\ud83d\udc66 Remember, this is on the heels of Ella H\u00e4kkinen, Mika\u2019s daughter, signing with McLaren in November<\/a>. 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\u2019t eaten lunch yet.<\/p>\n

2\ufe0f\u20e3 And, finally, on the heels of Antonelli\u2019s 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic\u2019s F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-892218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}