Madrid woke up with churros and the buzzing of Formula 3 engines as early as 10 in the morning. An unfamiliar noise coming from the East of the city, from Ifema, the fairgrounds, where a colossal red and yellow flag, 420 square meters of fabric in the wind, marks the place: Madring, the place to be.
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And indeed, everything at the semi-urban circuit is on a grand scale: the distances to move around, the paddock, the hospitality pavilions, the prices, the press room, the layout, 5.4 km long, and of course, its symbol: turn 12, named La Monumental, like a half bullring.
Identity mark
The engineering firm Dromo wanted to give the Madrid circuit an identity mark that would distinguish it from the rest… and they invented La Monumental, a gigantic, enormous curve
The designers of Madring, the Italian engineering firm Dromo, led by Jarno Zaffelli, aimed to give the Madrid circuit an identity mark that would distinguish it from the rest… and they invented La Monumental, a gigantic, enormous curve: 550 meters long with continuous banking, six radii, and, most impressively, a banking that reaches a maximum of 24%, equivalent to 13.5º of inclination. A wild feature that brings as much admiration as headaches to drivers and teams when taking it, as well as consequences that are becoming known.
Visually, there is no debate: it is the emblem of Madring. Visually, La Monumental lives up to its name. It is a hyperbolic curve, with a slope extended over half a kilometer, which therefore forces cars to run tilted. Stefano Domenicali was full of praise: “It’s beautiful. The banking also existed in Indianapolis when we were there [until 2007]. It will be the only circuit with banking in the World Championship because Zandvoort is leaving, although other places will want to replicate it,” said the FIA president, referring to turn 14, the Arie Luyendijkbocht, of the Dutch circuit, with a more pronounced banking of 18°, equivalent to a 32.5% slope. “The banking of Madring, by the way, is one of the identity marks of this circuit” – Domenicali counters – “because inside there is an incredible hospitality area from which you can see the cars pass by.” Oh, the business…
A challenging angle
La Monumental is a challenge: it is blind – they almost took out Hamilton – and is taken flat out at 5g for 5 seconds
However, from a sporting point of view, turn 12 is a monumental nuisance. First, because it is blind and high-speed, taken flat out at almost 300 km/h and 5g for five seconds, which entails danger. Drivers take it on the lowest line, but upon entering they cannot see if someone is inside going slower. It happened to Lindblad, who at 270 km/h almost took out Hamilton’s Ferrari, which was just cruising. The same happened to Tsunoda and Sainz with the Englishman, whom they brushed and cursed. “It’s always the same one, it’s very dangerous,” complained the Spaniard.
Secondly, the sharp angle has physical consequences: the tires suffer on this section like on no other track. Pirelli, the sole supplier of the championship, has already warned that the carcasses are subjected to extreme stress due to the combination of very high speed with such a steep banking and a track temperature that yesterday reached 50ºC. Remember Indianapolis 2005 and the Michelin tires suffering on the oval? Its ghost hovered over Madrid.
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In the two practice sessions, drivers complained over the radio about problems in the front axle due to sustained load, temperature differences in the tires, risk of graining, stress… Which suggests that teams will have to fit the hardest compound – which only the two Audis tested – and go for two stops if they don’t want to destroy the tires in the 57 laps of the race.
And by fitting the hardest rubber, as a correlative effect (assumed, because almost no one tested it), the cars should have less grip on a track with a very low grip level, comparable to Hungaroring (the lowest in the World Championship), to get an idea. Result: that there was only one accident yesterday due to off-track excursions was a gift from heaven, and that there are none today in qualy and tomorrow in the race (with everyone pushing harder) will be a miracle.
Risks
The majestic curve has its physical consequences: the tires suffer like on no other track
“It’s a crazy circuit, the riskiest on the entire calendar,” said George Russell. “In some areas, a small mistake can cause an accident. You just have to face it, try to calculate the margins and try to keep it under control,” commented Max Verstappen.
Since 2023 in Las Vegas, F1 drivers have not debuted any circuit on the calendar.
