Speaking on media day, F1 drivers gave their thoughts on the new Madring track, with Madrid set to host the 2026 F1 Spanish GP for the first time this weekend.
Drivers will be getting their first real-life taste of the purpose-built Madrid circuit on Friday, having relied heavily on simulator running to prepare for the weekend.
The circuit recorded 19 red flags across two days of F3 testing in August, leaving many to wonder whether F1 running will prove equally chaotic. Aside from the potential for crash-related stoppages, technical difficulties are also a possibility this weekend—the Las Vegas circuit famously experienced teething problems when it debuted on the calendar in 2023.
Madring’s layout has already drawn comparisons with several established circuits, with Jeddah the most common reference among the drivers. Monaco, Baku, Singapore and even Macau also featured in their assessments during Thursday’s media day, as apprehension and excitement seem to be the most prominent emotions in the paddock ahead of the weekend.
F1 drivers compare Madrid track to Jeddah
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was among those acknowledging the potential consequences of mistakes around the circuit.
“Well, it could be,” he said when asked whether he expects the track to be dangerous.
“In some places when you have a tiny moment it can result in a crash, but I mean, Jeddah is the same. We spoke about that already before, so you just have to deal with it, try to figure out the margins of course, try to keep it under control, but when you’re on the limit it’s easy to make a little mistake. Let’s just see how the weekend goes.
“In terms of what I feel, I mean, of course there are quite a lot more lower speed corners, but the sensation I get is a little bit like that.”
Verstappen was also asked about the expectation of the Madrid track being a venue where F1 drivers can make a difference, and whether its layout could suit his driving style.
“It’s not that suddenly, because then this is more of a driver’s track than Monza or whatever, that suddenly you can do a lot better. But yeah, I just want to enjoy the weekend,” he said.
“The banking, I think, is cool. It’s not going to be easy flat also, so there’s a bit of skill involved, which I think is always good.”
Gasly expects red flags and Monaco-like experience
Pierre Gasly had a more immediate prediction for the Madrid race weekend ahead: “I’ll put my money on a red flag, that’s for sure.”
The Monza polesitter admitted he’d found the wall numerous times during his simulator runs.
“Driving-wise, I must say in the sim it was very enjoyable and very exciting,” he said. “I got a good read and feel of pretty much every single wall at every single corner, so actually I know what to do and what not to do.
“But I think it’s going to be very challenging, especially in terms of evolution, probably a lot of track evolution—slightly off-brake braking zones which are not fully straight, kind of like snaky, very twisty type of corners, many corners, a lot of blinds, banking, up and down, undulation all the way.
“So, I think, I expect a very tricky track, challenging for us, which makes it good because you can always aim to do a difference driving-wise. But again it’s a type of track a bit like Monaco where I think if you do a slight mistake, you can have big consequences straight away, so it’s about how it’s going to be worth every single braking zone and sort of speed that you carry through the corners. I must say it’s exciting, at the same time I think it’s going to be quite a disruptive weekend, from how easy it will be to have a crash.”
He expects real life running to be considerably more complicated.
“Still, when you get to the real stuff it’s still different. In the simulator, you touch a wall, press escape and restart; in here it’s going to be slightly different, so obviously the approach, that’s what I kind of like, when you’ve got to be very humble to the track.”
Albon warns about track “blind spots”
“It’s an interesting track,” Alex Albon said, having already completed a track walk before speaking to the media.
“Without stating the obvious, a lot of walls, a lot of high-speed corners, a lot of blind corners gives me vibes of Macau, but more for an F1 track. A little bit concerning the blind spots in some of the corners.
“If there is a car that’s stopped on the other side of the corner, I hope they’re just quick on the VSCs and the red flags. Inevitably, there are going to be a few crashes this weekend. I wish they did something a bit different with the braking zones and not having them too much angled.
“You’ve got a lot of combined corners, which, just thinking of overtaking on Sunday, it feels like it’s quite easy to defend. You just put the car in the middle of the track and you’re not going to get a car that’s going to go past you. That just means that it will be more of a deployment overtake than a braking overtake.”
Albon pointed out that managing deployment will be a key focus.
“There’s a lot of corners on this track that will be between 90 and 100% throttle,” he said. “I think for the top teams it will be flat out. For the midfield and backfield teams, a bigger lift which has a big effect on deployment. Without going too technical, if you can do a corner flat or not, it massively changes the way the deployment works.”
He predicts tyres could come under strain through the middle and final sectors.
“The other thing which we’ve seen in the simulator already is the tyres are going to be absolutely screaming. So Sector 2 and Sector 3 is going to be a challenge.”
Russell calls Madrid one of F1’s riskiest circuits
George Russell echoed the general sentiment among F1 drivers that the Madrid track could prove dangerous.
“When I heard about the 20 red flags in F3 I was a bit surprised and then after I drove on the sim I was surprised there were only 20 red flags,” he commented.
He described the Madrid track as “crazy” and potentially one of the trickiest venues on the calendar.
“It’s a crazy circuit,” Russell continued. “I would put it arguably the most risky circuit of the whole calendar, because you have real high-speed corners, sort of Jeddah-esque.
“The walls are very close, so there’s no margin for error. But then you have other corners that are quite like Baku, where you’re coming from a high speed into a slow braking zone. You’re braking and turning at the same time, so locking tyres are going to be easy and if you lock up you’ll be straight in the wall.
“I’m excited to try that out. I think it’s going to be really challenging for us as drivers. The race is going to be challenging to overtake, so on the whole it’s not an easy one.”
“Scary” Madrid circuit will “punish mistakes,” says Pérez
Sergio Pérez also compared the new circuit with Jeddah, although he stopped short of suggesting Madrid would present the same level of danger.
“It’s a bit scary, I’ll say,” he stated. “Reminds me a bit of Jeddah. Good, proper track, really happy to be here and I think the atmosphere here is going to be one of the best.”
Pérez expects the Madrid track to punish mistakes, but added that the experience of conquering such a track can be thrilling for F1 drivers.
“It all depends what sort of grip level we get, but I think there is no room for error,” he said. “I think I like those places: you get punished and it’s very rare, depending on which corner you do a mistake, you might get away with it. But in most places, there is no margin for it.”
Regarding overtaking: “Hard to say, because in the sim obviously I cannot try much of the energy stuff. I think overtaking will be hard. It’s going to be, in my mind, closest to Singapore.”
He explained drivers will need to resist the temptation to chase the fastest lap time immediately.
“You don’t want to be the fastest on FP1. It’s all about the progression,” he said. “It’s all about going with the track and trying to over-deliver; it’s an opportunity for drivers where we can make a bit of a difference, even with these cars.”
Norris highlights grip as key unknown
Lando Norris also focused on the limited visibility around the circuit, which he said would make it difficult to anticipate each corner from the cockpit. The reigning world champion concurred that Madring is “a difficult track.”
He warned about the dangers of blind corners, which are a notable feature of the Madrid circuit: “We have a lot of blind corners, a lot of corners you cannot see around, so it’s difficult to predict things. This just makes it always a bigger challenge inside the cockpit of a car.
“The fact you cannot see more than 50% of a corner at one time. There’s a lot of braking zones that are combined with a lot of steering. I don’t know what challenges we’ll have, probably all of them, but the same for everyone.”
The McLaren driver is nevertheless looking forward to racing at a completely new circuit.
“I’m also excited,” he continued. “I always enjoy coming to a new circuit and trying to go to a new place. You have to see it as an opportunity for yourself to try and prepare in the best way possible. Use what you can to your advantage and try to make something useful out of it.”
Norris identified elements that are difficult to reproduce virtually within the simulator environment.
“The main thing you always lack on a simulator is the speed sensation and also the fear of a street circuit,” he said. “Of course, the biggest question is grip. Grip allows you to have a lot of confidence or very little. That’s the biggest question straight away.”
Piastri wary of kerbs
Oscar Piastri admitted he enjoyed exploring the Madrid track on the F1 simulator but was unsure whether the same approach would work once drivers experienced it in reality.
“It’s difficult to know because it’s got a bit of everything here,” he said. “It looks like there’s some very good corners, some very slow corners, and then also some medium speed stuff. I don’t know how bumpy it’s going to be.
“From some of the F3 photos I saw, there was a lot of kerb usage, to put it mildly. So I think that’s going to be interesting to see if our cars can take the same. Hopefully we don’t cause quite as many red flags.”
“But it looks like an interesting track,” he continued.
“On the sim, once you get into the rhythm of things, it was fun to drive. Whether you can get into the same rhythm in real life, I’m not sure. Because I probably would have written off a few cars if I tried to do everything like I did in the sim. But I think it’s the same for everybody, so it looks like it’s got potential to be fun.”
