Madrid's Madring Faces Changes for 2027
The Madring arrived with a roar. It left with a question mark.
Formula 1’s new Spanish Grand Prix venue in Madrid, wrapped around the IFEMA fairgrounds, won plaudits for its facilities and its driving challenge on debut. But for all the high-speed jeopardy in qualifying, the 5.4km layout delivered thin gruel on Sunday – and across F1, F2 and F3 – with drivers quickly pointing to one culprit: overtaking was brutally hard.
Organisers have heard the verdict. And they are already sharpening the pencils.
FIA guidance in, changes coming
Speaking after the race, event managing director Luis Garcia Abad made it clear the Madring will not stand still between now and 2027. The FIA has already sent through a set of recommendations aimed squarely at boosting racing, and Madrid is ready to listen.
“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 told Motorsport.com.
The phrase “reinstall the track” matters. Much of the northern section was built on empty land, a blank canvas that still has room for heavy edits. This is not a street circuit hemmed in by buildings and politics. It can move.
Abad is convinced the bones of a strong circuit are already there.
“I really believe that the drivers enjoyed qualifying a lot. But for sure we will try to make an improvement for next year.”
A track that tests – but doesn’t let you race
Drivers did enjoy wrestling the cars around Madrid’s sweeping, medium to high-speed corners. The layout punished mistakes, rewarded commitment and produced a tense, high-stakes qualifying session.
Then the lights went out on Sunday, and the chessboard barely shifted.
The main overtaking hope had been the Turn 5 chicane at the end of the longest straight. On paper, it looked like the obvious lunge zone. In reality, the awkward geometry of the corner killed momentum and dulled the braking duel. Moves were rare, half-chances easily shut down.
Frustration spilled into Friday night’s drivers’ briefing. Several drivers highlighted the same structural issue: too many combined corner entries, where they are forced to brake and turn simultaneously. That kind of corner profile lets the leading car dictate the line and speed, making it far too simple to defend and almost impossible to set up a clean attack.
Strategy didn’t rescue the spectacle either. The pitlane, drivers felt, was simply too long to tempt teams into bold, off-sequence stops. With the time loss so heavy, the undercut and overcut tools stayed mostly in the box.
The result: a modern, impressive venue with a static race.
Norris calls for a reset
World champion Lando Norris did not sugar-coat his view of the place. For him, Madrid is two different circuits: one for Saturday, one for Sunday.
“To me, it’s not a great racetrack. It’s great in qualifying,” he said, before outlining what he believes would transform the event.
His key idea is radical but clear: cut out the fiddly final sector and let the cars breathe. Norris suggested a straight line from Turn 17 to Turn 20, feeding into a much wider, more dramatic braking zone – something akin to Austin’s Turn 1 or Turn 10, a big hairpin that invites late dives and side-by-side battles.
“You’ll create much better opportunities for everyone and you’ll be able to enjoy the race,” he argued.
He also pointed to the Turn 5-6-7 sequence as a problem cluster. With drivers having to turn and brake at the same time, the very essence of wheel-to-wheel combat is lost.
“The fact you have to turn and brake [at the same time] basically defeats the whole object of racing.”
That line will sting in Madrid’s control room.
Space to act – and a decade to get it right
The Spanish Grand Prix’s move to Madrid is locked in for a decade. Last weekend’s race was only the first of a 10-year deal, which gives organisers both security and responsibility. They cannot afford a reputation as a qualifying track with a processional Sunday.
Abad insists they have the tools to respond.
“We have the space, we have a venue, we have the facilities, we have the capacity to do it,” he said. “I’m sure that FOM, FIA, and ourselves, we will try. If we can improve something, we will do it.”
That “if” is already turning into “how much”. With the FIA’s recommendations on the table, driver feedback ringing in their ears and a malleable northern loop, Madrid’s planners have a rare luxury in modern F1: the chance to reshape a brand-new circuit before it calcifies in the sport’s consciousness.
The Madring has the glamour, the infrastructure and the calendar slot. What it needs now is something far harder to design on a drawing board: a layout that lets the world’s fastest cars actually race.
