News Summary
- Formula 1 will finally put the new Madring through a full race-weekend test on Friday, with no previous Grand Prix data available from the 5.414 km circuit.
- Tyre behaviour, track evolution and the balance between high-speed and technical sections will be crucial to understanding the competitive order before qualifying.
- Mercedes arrives as the benchmark after Monza, but McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull could close the gap on a circuit with very different demands from the Italian Grand Prix.
Formula 1 is about to enter unfamiliar territory.
The Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid will give the championship its first full race weekend at the new Madring, a 22-turn circuit combining public roads and purpose-built sections around IFEMA and Valdebebas. With no previous F1 race to provide a reference, Friday’s two practice sessions will be unusually important.
The first cars will hit the track at 13:30 local time on Friday, with FP2 following at 17:00. By the end of those four hours, teams should have a much clearer idea of what the new circuit is asking of their cars — and whether the competitive order seen at Monza means anything in Madrid.
GRANDE PRÊMIO has already looked at what makes the new Madring different and why the venue could shake up the order. Now the focus turns to the questions that Friday needs to answer.
1. Who is actually fast at Madring?
This is the obvious question, but perhaps the hardest one to answer.
Mercedes arrives in Madrid with the strongest recent momentum. Kimi Antonelli won at Monza from 19th on the grid, George Russell finished second and the result left Mercedes firmly in control of both championships. Antonelli leads Russell by 66 points, 267 to 201, with Lewis Hamilton third on 191.
But Monza is almost the opposite of Madring in terms of circuit character.
The Italian venue rewards low drag, efficiency and outright speed. Madrid combines fast sections with heavy braking, medium-speed corners and a much more technical final sector. The new circuit therefore gives McLaren and Ferrari an opportunity to show whether Mercedes’ advantage is genuinely structural or was amplified by Monza’s characteristics.
That makes the first long runs in Madrid more valuable than the headline time sheet.
2. How quickly will the new asphalt evolve?
This could be the weekend’s biggest variable.
Madring is being used for its first F1 Grand Prix, meaning there is no established rubbered-in racing line or historical data showing how the surface behaves across a weekend.
As more cars run, the track should evolve. That can change the balance between sessions and make direct comparisons between early FP1 laps and late FP2 laps particularly misleading.
It also means teams will need to distinguish between genuine car performance and a lap simply produced at the right moment on a rapidly improving circuit.
The first question for engineers will therefore not just be “how fast are we?”, but “why are we fast?”
3. Who can put the tyres in the right window?
This could ultimately decide qualifying.
A new surface makes tyre behaviour harder to predict because teams have no previous race data to establish degradation, thermal behaviour or the ideal operating window.
That makes FP2 especially important. Teams will be able to compare representative fuel loads and tyre compounds while beginning to establish how much performance can be extracted over a single lap without compromising the car’s balance.
McLaren technical director Mark Temple has already stressed how much precision the circuit demands, particularly around braking and the kerbs. The team expects the combination of technical corners and the new surface to make understanding grip one of the central challenges of the weekend.
A team that understands the tyres first could gain considerably more than the raw pace of its car would suggest.
4. Is La Monumental a gain or a trap?
Turn 12 is the most distinctive feature of Madring.
La Monumental stretches for roughly 550 metres and reaches a 24% gradient, equivalent to around 13.5 degrees. The 270-degree banked corner is unlike anything else on the new circuit and could produce several different approaches from the drivers.
The key issue will be how much time a driver can extract from the corner without compromising the rest of the lap.
An aggressive approach may deliver an immediate gain, but it could also punish the tyres or destabilise the car for the following section. A more conservative line may sacrifice a fraction of a second while producing a better overall lap.
Friday should reveal which compromise works.
And because La Monumental offers multiple possible racing lines, it will also be one of the first places where teams begin thinking beyond qualifying and towards Sunday.
5. Does Ferrari’s filming-day experience matter?
Ferrari has one small advantage over the rest of the field: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have already driven the Madring during a filming day in July. Leclerc was the first to complete laps in the SF-26, with Hamilton taking over later in the session.
But the advantage should not be overstated.
A filming day is not a race weekend. The mileage is restricted, and teams use demonstration tyres rather than the compounds available during a Grand Prix. Ferrari therefore has some familiarity with the physical layout, braking references and general rhythm, but it does not possess a meaningful database from a competitive F1 session.
The real test will be whether Leclerc and Hamilton can convert that familiarity into an advantage once the entire field starts collecting representative data.
If Ferrari is immediately competitive, the previous running will suddenly look much more significant.
If Mercedes or McLaren establishes the benchmark, it may prove that simulator preparation matters more than those few additional laps.
6. Mercedes, McLaren or Ferrari: who has the best qualifying package?
The Friday classification will not tell the entire story.
Teams will run different fuel loads, tyre compounds and engine modes, meaning the fastest lap can sometimes obscure the underlying performance.
The more useful indicators will be consistency and repeatability.
Who can produce several competitive laps in succession? Which car suffers most when the tyres move away from their ideal window? Who can unlock the soft compound without compromising the balance?
And perhaps most importantly: which team can find performance without creating a car that becomes difficult to drive over a full stint?
That is why the gap between the top three teams may be more revealing than the identity of the driver at the top of the timing screen.
7. Can Verstappen put Red Bull back into the fight?
Max Verstappen arrives in Madrid with Red Bull still searching for the right answer at a circuit nobody has raced at before.
The Dutchman has already compared Madring with Jeddah and warned that the close barriers leave little room for mistakes.
That makes Friday particularly important for Red Bull.
The car has to work across several different types of corner, and the team cannot rely on a known setup baseline from a previous race. If Verstappen is immediately within reach of Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, the fight for pole could become considerably more open.
If Red Bull struggles with tyre preparation or stability under braking, Verstappen may instead find himself trying to limit the deficit before Saturday.
8. Where does Audi and Gabriel Bortoleto fit?
Gabriel Bortoleto enters Madrid after finishing 11th at Monza and will face the same fundamental challenge as most of the midfield: finding out exactly where the car belongs on a circuit without historical race data.
Bortoleto currently has 10 points and sits 14th in the Drivers’ Championship, while Audi is still looking to turn occasional pace into regular points-scoring results.
For Audi, the most useful Friday benchmark may therefore not be the absolute lap time.
It will be the gap to the teams around it.
If Bortoleto can keep the Audi close to Racing Bulls, Alpine and Haas, the Madrid weekend could develop into a realistic opportunity rather than simply another exercise in learning a new circuit.
What should F1 know by the end of Friday?
By the time FP2 ends, the paddock should have meaningful answers to five questions:
1. Which car has the strongest one-lap pace?
2. Which team understands the tyres best?
3. How dramatically does the track evolve during a session?
4. Which cars can sustain competitive long-run pace?
5. Has the Mercedes-McLaren-Ferrari order changed from Monza?
Those answers will matter more than the Friday headline.
Why Friday matters more than usual
At a conventional circuit, teams can lean on years of tyre data, setup history and race experience. At Madring, almost all of that disappears.
The teams have spent months working in the simulator, but the real circuit will inevitably expose differences between virtual preparation and reality. Formula 1 itself has described the Madrid weekend as a major unknown, with drivers arriving at a venue that combines high-speed sections, technical corners and the unusual La Monumental banking.
That makes Friday more than a search for the fastest lap.
It is the moment when teams begin building the database they will use for the rest of the weekend.
The qualifying result on Saturday will show who extracted the most from the car.
But Friday’s practice sessions should reveal something more important:
who actually understood Madring first.
FAQ
What should F1 teams learn during Friday practice in Madrid?
Teams need to establish the new circuit’s grip level, tyre behaviour, car balance, track evolution and long-run performance. With no previous F1 race at Madring, Friday provides the first meaningful real-world dataset for the weekend.
Which teams are favourites for pole at the 2026 Spanish GP?
Mercedes enters Madrid with the strongest recent results after a one-two at Monza, but the circuit’s different characteristics could bring McLaren and Ferrari closer. Red Bull and Max Verstappen should also be monitored as teams establish the competitive order for the first time.
What time are F1 practice sessions at the 2026 Spanish GP?
FP1 starts at 13:30 local time in Madrid on Friday, September 11, with FP2 at 17:00. Final practice is at 12:30 on Saturday, followed by qualifying at 16:00. The race starts at 15:00 on Sunday, September 13.
