Justifying the need for yet another street track, F1's own Head of Vehicle Performance, Craig Wilson insists that the new Madrid circuit will challenge drivers.
One could almost hear the collective sigh earlier this week as the sport announced yet another street track being added to the schedule.
While some may not miss the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, which earned a certain reputation for 'bore-athons', especially in the days when pre-season testing took place there, not to mention when circuits would host tests just days before a Grand Prix, the move to street tracks and the money they bring in puts the likes of Silverstone, Suzuka, Monza, Monaco, Mexico, Shanghai, Imola, Spa and Zandvoort increasingly under threat.
In an effort to appease the fans, and no doubt some drivers, F1's Head of Vehicle Performance, Craig Wilson insists that the new 5.47 km circuit which winds its way around the city's IFEMA exhibition centre will present a special challenge.
"From the very first suggestion to where we've ended up, there's been about 24 track models," he tells the sport's official website, "but then there's been numerous sub-model investigations and different details as well."
"We've now got a concept that we're happy to proceed development with," he continued, "and we're very excited to see it take shape. I think it will be a good challenge for the drivers."
The layout, the final design of which has yet to be signed-off by the FIA, will feature 20 corners with an anticipated qualifying lap time of 1:32.
"It's in between what you'd consider a normal street track layout and more towards a permanent circuit style layout," said Wilson. "A lot of the places will have a temporary circuit-type installation, but then there's other sections which may look or feel a bit different depending on the final implementation decisions to suit the IFEMA site."
Turn 10 will be banked, and talking to Spanish newspaper Marca, chief architect, Jarno Zafelli, who was behind the 2020 upgrades to Zandvoort, revealed that he envisages the banked section in Madrid being significantly steeper than Turn 3 at the Dutch track which is 19-degrees.
"It will be easier than retouching the current one, removing centres, crossing roundabouts, grading streets and resurfacing and other touch-ups," he said. "We do not want to repeat elements of other circuits, Madrid will have its own personality and the elements and areas it needs. We haven't copied anyone and it should be ready by June 2026.
"The fact of not being limited like in a city allowed us to seek the limits," he continued. "How much will depend on the following phases, on F1, the FIA and everything that is discussed during the final design.
"As for the layout, there will be small changes in Valdebebas, because that area is the one that is not developed at the moment. And yes, we expect some surprises... indeed, there may be two or three surprises that we haven't been able to show yet."
Indeed, the Valdebebas section, much like Miami, will require a tunnel section to run underneath the motorway, while also, again similar to the Florida track, has to incorporate local landmarks. While in Miami it is the Hard Rock Stadium, in Madrid it will be the IFEMA exhibition centre.
"The next steps are that it now needs to go from concept into detailed design development and importantly through the FIA submission and homologation process, and all the safety assessments, to achieve a Grade 1 track licence," says Wilson.
"As you start construction, it needs to go through all the inspections, while we have to work with the developers on all the planning, infrastructure, how the garages are going to be arranged, how the paddock layout specifics are going to be and all of our systems integration, so it's the start of the journey."
Referring to the banked section, Wilson admits that it has yet to be agreed "how banked we make it, what kind of banking and what kind of profile we go for, with a mind to how can we turn Turns 11 and 12 into a potential overtaking action area".
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