Organisers of Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid are ready to make tweaks to the Madring circuit to boost overtaking for 2027, and have already received recommendations from the FIA.
The 5.4km circuit around Madrid’s IFEMA fairgrounds, which made its competition debut last weekend, was praised by drivers and teams for its facilities and its driving challenge. But while the tricky combination of medium to high-speed corners delivered a high-stakes qualifying session, the lack of clear overtaking opportunities led to a lack of action throughout the weekend, including across F1, F2 and F3.
The main overtaking option was supposed to be the Turn 5 chicane following the circuit’s longest straight, but the corner’s awkward design made that difficult. Voicing their feedback in Friday night’s drivers’ briefing, drivers were particularly frustrated by the number of combined corner entries, where cars are having to brake and steer at the same time, which has made it straight-forward for the car in front to defend. They also felt the circuit’s pitlane was far too long to entice teams to try different pitstop strategies.
Speaking exclusively to Autosport after Sunday’s race, the event’s managing director Luis Garcia Abad said his team was willing to make the necessary modifications to improve the on-track spectacle, and that he had already received recommendations from the FIA for the 2027 event.
“Being honest with you, the FIA defined clearly which is the way to improve the track layout, and we will be open because we will have to reinstall the track for the next year,” Abad said. “I really believe that the drivers enjoyed qualifying a lot. But for sure we will try to make an improvement for next year.”
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT Images via Getty Images
Last weekend’s race was the first of a 10-year contract. And with the northern half of the circuit being designed from a blank sheet of paper on empty land, Abad vowed there is plenty of scope to make significant changes.
“We have the space, we have a venue, we have the facilities, we have the capacity to do it,” he promised. “I’m sure that FOM, FIA, and ourselves, we will try. If we can improve something, we will do it.”
Speaking after the race, world champion Lando Norris made a few recommendations.
“To me, it’s not a great race track. It’s great in qualifying, but a straight line from Turn 17 straight to Turn 20 [would help], to have a much wider entry like Austin Turn 1 or Turn 10, a big hairpin. You’ll create much better opportunities for everyone and you’ll be able to enjoy the race.
“There are some simple changes and maybe some trickier ones, like Turn 5, 6, 7. It’s hard to know exactly what is the best thing. The fact you have to turn and brake [at the same time] basically defeats the whole object of racing.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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