Formula 1 drivers almost fall asleep on the new Madring circuit

The F1 Spanish Grand Prix was quite boring this Sunday on the new Madring circuit, leading drivers to request a change in the layout for next year, in order to encourage overtaking.

"I almost fell asleep too", joked Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), when a journalist jokingly told him that several colleagues had fallen asleep during the Grand Prix.

The recently opened Madring, in the Spanish capital, provided, in fact, a sleepy race whose only moment of emotion was a virtual safety car (VSC) that surprised the British Lando Norris (McLaren), then in the lead, facilitating the victory for the Italian Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes).

The circuit, which made its debut this year on the F1 calendar, offers very little space for overtaking and, consequently, limits the spectacle.

“If you try to overtake, there is an 80% chance you will come into contact with your opponent, so it doesn't encourage trying anything. I think it is necessary to modify some curves to create more overtaking opportunities", said the Italian Antonelli.

An opinion shared by British Oliver Bearman (Haas): "It's fun to drive this circuit on a single lap, but it's not a track to fight in a race."

Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine), in turn, defended changing the chicane at turn number five, as did Thai Alex Albon (Williams).

"It's not a great route"

"Two or three changes would be enough to solve the problem, because it's not a bad circuit; it's pleasant to drive here, but as we've seen, in racing it's quite boring", he concluded.

Norris was more critical: "It's not a great layout. It's good for qualifying, but they should eliminate turns 18 and 19, which are useless, to create a longer straight that would provide overtaking opportunities and make the race more interesting."

The Grand Prix was, however, a public success, with the presence of 353,000 spectators throughout the weekend, including several celebrities such as many footballers, former tennis player Rafael Nadal or actor Patrick Dempsey.

King Philip VI of Spain also watched the race before handing the winner's trophy to Kimi.

The promoters of Madring, a semi-urban circuit that winds around Ifema, the Spanish capital's fairgrounds, and is located close to Real Madrid's training center and Madrid airport, have signed a 10-year contract with F1, guaranteeing a place on the calendar until 2035.