Amaze. Cause admiration. Not leave indifferent. That is the aim of the new Madring (name formed by Mad –from Madrid, or crazy– and Ring –ring, circuit–), the stage of the Spanish F-1 Grand Prix, which debuts this weekend in a new location in the Spanish capital after 35 consecutive editions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (from 1991 to 2025).
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Gigantic, enormous, challenging… Everything is grandiloquent in the Madring, built in just 16 months on the outskirts of the city, partly on the Ifema fairgrounds and partly in the neighborhoods of Valdebebas and Cárcavas, just 20 minutes by metro from Puerta del Sol…
Differential
The proximity to a European capital and the ease of access by public transport, as well as being 10 minutes from the airport, were the main attractions Madrid sold to Liberty Media
This proximity to a European capital – with all that entails: closeness to restaurants, bars, parties, leisure… what they call experience – and the ease of access by public transport, as well as being 10 minutes from the airport, were the main attractions Madrid sold to Liberty Media to captivate and convince them of the convenience of opening a new model of Grand Prix in Europe, in the line of Miami, Las Vegas or Mexico.
“The problem is not the type of layout, but where it is and what it offers around it, when the races are over,” explained a few days ago the director of Madring, Luis García Abad, former manager of Fernando Alonso, whom Ifema entrusted with the management of the Grand Prix with the aim of turning Madrid into the new reference of F-1 against the traditional circuits: to be able to offer the greatest car spectacle at your doorstep, without having to park and walk 5 km like in Spa, or take two hours by train or bus like in Silverstone from London…
It is complicated and difficult to learn, very technical, with high-speed sections where you have to get close to the wall; it fills the drivers with adrenaline”
Fernando Alonso
Thus, counting on all the lights and attractions of the city on its side, the Madrid Grand Prix has as its cornerstone its semi-urban and hybrid circuit, a peculiar concept, since in its 5.4 km length it combines sections of public streets of Valdebebas with the permanent facilities of the fairgrounds, as well as sections built specifically, as if it were a permanent circuit, such as the iconic turn 12, La Monumental, the great emblem of the Madring, which yesterday, even without cars on the track or public, already shone in its splendor, still with fresh paint and the smell of newly laid asphalt.
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I see it as a hybrid between Yida, Baku and Macau; it’s going to be very, very complicated”
Carlos Sainz
“I see it as a hybrid between Yida, Baku and Macau; it’s going to be a very, very complicated circuit for drivers and teams,” predicts Carlos Sainz, Madring ambassador, delighted to race “at home,” the circuit of his city.
For Fernando Alonso, Madrid’s is “a complicated and difficult circuit to learn, very technical, with high-speed sections where you have to get close to the wall. That is attractive and fills the drivers with adrenaline,” analyzed the Asturian, for whom the layout of the Spanish capital will be the 38th in which he competes in F-1.
I’d bet there will be red flags… In the simulator I’ve touched all the walls”
Pierre Gasly
And the boss of the big circus, a Stefano Domenicali enthusiastic about Madrid, sang the praises of his new toy. “It is a hybrid layout that no one had presented before, so it is a project with a new philosophy, and that is why it can be very interesting; it will not be an easy layout, as seen in the F2 and F3 tests with cars brushing the walls.”
That is, without a doubt, one of the main demands of the Madring: in most of its 22 turns there are no run-off areas or escape routes, but the track runs between walls, more than 3,300 concrete blocks that make up a high-resistance safety fence system. Or in other words: there will be no margin for error. Touching the wall means destroying the car. “I’d bet my money there will be red flags… I think in the simulator I’ve touched all the walls,” said Pierre Gasly (Alpine). “That’s how drivers show their courage,” joked Domenicali.
