The Spanish Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, strongly criticized the Madring layout, believing that its lack of overtaking opportunities had greatly harmed the spectacle of the Grand Prix.
Read more VSC: Lando Norris calls to review the rules after his lost victory in Madrid
“It’s like Monaco 2, but faster. A train of cars from start to finish, with changes only thanks to strategy,” he said, even going so far as to call the event a “total disaster.”
The drivers also pointed out certain characteristics of the circuit.
The drivers unanimous
Third in the race when he should have won without the intervention of the virtual safety car at the worst moment, Lando Norris notably believes that turns 18 and 19 should disappear in favor of a straight leading directly to a hairpin.
“They should remove turns 18 and 19. They serve no purpose. There should simply be a longer straight before a hairpin,” explained the Brit. “I don’t know how anyone can look at this layout and say: ‘Perfect.’ For me, it’s not a very good circuit.”
The same observation for the winner Kimi Antonelli, who finds the Madring enjoyable on a fast lap but much less suited to racing: “It really doesn’t create overtaking opportunities and it doesn’t encourage attempts to attack, because in 80% of cases, you risk having contact. There are turns that need to be modified to create more opportunities. On a lap, it’s nice, but in a race, you just stay stuck behind the car in front of you.”
Read more Imola, Barcelona and Zandvoort placed on reserve for the 2027 calendar amid Iranian conflict
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz had already warned about the lack of real braking zones favorable to attacks. Sainz, ambassador of the circuit, acknowledged that adjustments were necessary and indicated that the drivers would work with the FIA and the track officials, notably around turns 1, 5, and 13.
Modifications in sight
Modifications to the Madring are thus already being considered for the 2027 edition, with the main goal of creating better overtaking zones and avoiding a spectacular qualifying race turning into a procession on Sunday.
Luis Garcia Abad, circuit director and former manager of Fernando Alonso, also confirmed that the layout would be modified: “We hope for everyone’s collaboration to achieve the best possible result: teams, drivers, FIA, organizers must unite for the best possible compromise between spectacle and safety, realistically, so that everything is in place by the next edition.”
According to him, the context is particularly favorable to such an evolution, since the different stakeholders seem to share the same assessment. The money is there, the government supports the project. And according to him, the investment already made makes an evolution of the circuit practically unavoidable with a 10-year contract in place.
Read more Formula 1 unveils its 2027 calendar with a record ten Sprint races