Particulars of the brand new circuit in Madrid which Method 1 will race at from 2026 have been rumoured for months.
Whereas it was lengthy anticipated F1 would reveal a road circuit as the brand new residence of the Spanish Grand Prix, the primary official info launched in regards to the monitor right this moment has indicated one thing barely totally different. F1 refers back to the new Ifema Madrid Circuit as a “hybrid” course.
The 20-turn monitor measures a little bit below five-and-a-half kilometres. Of that, round 1.5km – simply over 1 / 4 – is public roads. The remainder is purpose-built.
There’s nothing new about making a monitor by combining streets with purpose-built sections, after all. Present F1 venues corresponding to Singapore and Las Vegas already do this, as did previous circuits like Adelaide in Australia.
What’s totally different about Madrid is the ratio between the 2. These circuits all characteristic quick everlasting sections the place the pits and paddock are located, whereas closed public roads kind nearly all of the monitor. Madrid’s new circuit might be largely the alternative.
The prevailing roads of the Recinto Ferial web site, residence to the Ifema exhibition centre, will kind the idea of the beginning/end space. However a lot of the remainder of the monitor will use highway which hasn’t been laid but. The aim-built part of monitor might be constructed within the Valdebebas web site to the north.
F1 enlisted Dromo to develop the monitor design. The Italian architects beforehand masterminded revisions to different circuits, together with Zandvoort’s overhaul for its return to the F1 calendar.
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From the beginning/end space, drivers will negotiate a left-right chicane. With the monitor measuring between 12 and 15 metres extensive in locations, its designers anticipate it is going to provide as much as 4 seemingly overtaking spots, and this would be the first of them.
From there they construct as much as a prime pace of over 300kph via a the curved acceleration zone. The following braking space, at flip 5, ought to provide one other overtaking alternative.
As drivers speed up away from this nook they may go beneath the M11 motorway and climb quickly, getting into the purpose-built part of monitor. Flip 10, which might be named Valdebebas, is prone to show the monitor’s signature nook.
Drivers could have a blind strategy to the quick right-hander which turns via nicely over 180 levels. It’s anticipated to be banked, although precisely how steep stays to be determined.
Dromo CEO Jarno Zaffelli expects this might be a well-liked characteristic with drivers. “We’ve got been in a position to observe an strategy to the monitor primarily based on the feedback of the drivers, who demand quick and secure layouts, and the presence of extra banking, so appreciated after its reintroduction in Method 1 in Zandvoort,” he mentioned.
Now heading again in the direction of the exhibition centre, drivers face a speedy sequence of corners and a second tunnel beneath the motorway. As they return to Ifema they may rejoin public roads. The ultimate two corners are typical of road circuits – a pair of 90-degree bends.
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In comparison with current road circuits which have joined the F1 calendar, Ifema Madrid doesn’t have the sustained excessive speeds of Jeddah or the extraordinarily lengthy straights of Las Vegas. How well-suited will probably be for racing is troublesome to evaluate at this level because the chassis rules for the vehicles which can race in 2026 haven’t been determined but.
Different options will distinguish it from current tracks. In a primary for the world championship, the paddock space might be absolutely lined. F1 can also be eager to advertise the environmental advantages of situating its new race in a handy location for spectators.
What sort of race will they see? Ifema Madrid appears to be like sufficiently totally different from different road circuits to supply one thing distinctive, however quite a bit will come right down to selections not but taken – the floor of the monitor, the steepness of that banking and people all-important 2026 rules F1 is engaged on.
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