{"id":2237,"date":"2026-09-14T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2026-09-14T10:47:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T13:47:26","slug":"f1-drivers-slam-madring-over-lack-of-overtaking-how-does-someone-look-at-this-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/f1-drivers-slam-madring-over-lack-of-overtaking-how-does-someone-look-at-this-design\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 drivers slam Madring over lack of overtaking: &#8220;How does someone look at this design?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lando Norris questioned how Madring&#8217;s current design was approved and proposed removing Turns 18 and 19 to create a straight into a hairpin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Andrea Kimi Antonelli said attempted overtakes currently risk contact &#8220;80% of the time&#8221;, while Oliver Bearman called Madring a &#8220;poor track for racing&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alex Albon revealed drivers had already raised the problem with the FIA on Friday and believes a small number of changes could significantly improve racing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formula 1 drivers have called for substantial changes to Madring after the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix exposed exactly what many had feared before the race: the new Madrid circuit is challenging and enjoyable over one lap, but provides very few realistic overtaking opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sunday&#8217;s race became largely processional, with track position proving decisive and the battle for victory ultimately transformed by the timing of a Virtual Safety Car rather than an on-track pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli was critical of the layout after experiencing the problem first-hand during his opening-lap battle with Lando Norris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It definitely doesn&#8217;t create overtaking opportunities and it doesn&#8217;t push you to try and make a move, because 80% of the time you might have contact,&#8221; Antonelli said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think especially in the second chicane, if I would have turned in there, me and Lando would have touched and probably gone into the wall and blocked the road. It definitely wouldn&#8217;t have been nice.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli believes Madring can work as a qualifying circuit but needs modifications before it can consistently produce better racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;So, I think there are some corners that need to be changed to create more overtaking opportunities, because right now, yes, it&#8217;s nice over one lap, but for sure in the race you&#8217;re just stuck behind.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"F1 2026, ESPANHA, CLASSIFICA\u00c7\u00c3O, MCLAREN, LANDO NORRIS\" class=\"wp-image-1020314859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-classificacao-mclaren-lando-norris-01.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lando Norris was one of several drivers to call for changes to Madring (Photo: McLaren)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norris was even more direct. The McLaren driver, who <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-capitalises-on-norris-vsc-misfortune-to-win-first-spanish-gp-at-madring\/\">lost a likely Spanish GP victory after being caught on the wrong side of the Virtual Safety Car<\/a>, identified the final sector as one of the clearest areas for improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think there are some obvious changes they should make,&#8221; Norris said. &#8220;They should get rid of Turn 18, 19, useless. Just have more of a straight into a hairpin. I don&#8217;t know how someone looks at this design and goes, &#8216;Mint.'&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reigning world champion stressed that he sees potential in Madring, particularly because the circuit is enjoyable in qualifying. His criticism is specifically about its suitability for racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;To me, it&#8217;s not a great racetrack. It&#8217;s great in qualifying, but, you know, a straight line from 17 straight to 20 [would help], to have a much wider entry like Austin Turn 1 or Turn 10, a big hairpin. You&#8217;ll create much better opportunities for everyone and you&#8217;ll be able to enjoy the race.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norris also highlighted Turns 5, 6 and 7, where braking while turning makes attacking another car particularly difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The fact you have to turn and brake basically defeats the whole object of racing,&#8221; he added. &#8220;So, they can do some simple changes, I think, easy changes and maybe some trickier changes, but I hope they do it because then it should be more exciting for everyone.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-audi-gabriel-bortoleto-03-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"F1 2026, ESPANHA, CORRIDA, AUDI, GABRIEL BORTOLETO\" class=\"wp-image-1020315105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-audi-gabriel-bortoleto-03-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-audi-gabriel-bortoleto-03-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-audi-gabriel-bortoleto-03-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-audi-gabriel-bortoleto-03-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-audi-gabriel-bortoleto-03-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f1-2026-espanha-corrida-audi-gabriel-bortoleto-03-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gabriel Bortoleto joked that he &#8220;almost fell asleep&#8221; during the Spanish GP (Photo: Audi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oliver Bearman was equally critical. The Haas driver said the shortcomings were evident simply from studying the layout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;You only have to look at the layout, and it&#8217;s quite clear that it&#8217;s going to be a poor track for racing,&#8221; Bearman said. &#8220;I mean, when you arrive and you see that layout, you&#8217;re like, what do you expect us to do? It&#8217;s a bit of a shame.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bearman pointed to the combination of long corner exits and braking zones that require drivers to turn and slow the car simultaneously. In his view, that makes defending too easy while substantially increasing the difficulty of attacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alex Albon revealed that drivers had already raised their concerns with the FIA on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I hope there&#8217;s open-mindedness to make some track changes for next year,&#8221; the Williams driver said. &#8220;I mean, if the F3 cars can&#8217;t overtake, then you know there&#8217;s going to be no overtaking the whole weekend.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Albon nevertheless believes the circuit can be fixed without a complete redesign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think there only needs to be a couple of changes to fix the problem. Otherwise, honestly, it&#8217;s not a bad track. It&#8217;s quite a fun track to drive, just like you saw in the races, it&#8217;s pretty boring.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His main proposal involves rebuilding the section between Turns 3 and 5, including removing the chicane, while also reconsidering the configuration around the banked Turn 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gabriel Bortoleto also criticised the Turn 5 section, although for a different reason. The Audi driver said repeatedly hitting the bump there became physically uncomfortable over a race distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Just the jump in T5, to do that 50 laps, you get quite a lot of headache at the end of the race,&#8221; Bortoleto said. &#8220;So, it&#8217;s not the easiest one for our body.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When <em>Autosport<\/em> told Bortoleto that journalists in the media centre had nearly fallen asleep during the race, he replied: &#8220;I almost fell asleep as well!&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The criticism reinforces the verdict delivered by several drivers immediately after Sunday&#8217;s race. Oscar Piastri argued that Monaco is currently the only F1 circuit where passing is more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drivers&#8217; suggestions now provide Madring organisers with several areas to examine before Formula 1 returns to Madrid in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What changes does Lando Norris want at Madring?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norris wants Turns 18 and 19 removed so the section from Turn 17 leads directly into a wider hairpin at Turn 20. He also believes the Turns 5-7 complex should be reconsidered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why do F1 drivers say overtaking is difficult in Madrid?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several of Madring&#8217;s main braking zones require drivers to brake while turning. That allows the defending driver to cover the available space and makes conventional late-braking overtakes extremely difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will Madring be changed for the 2027 Spanish GP?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No specific modifications have yet been confirmed, but drivers have already discussed the problem with the FIA and proposed changes to several parts of the circuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lando Norris, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto criticised Madrid&#8217;s layout after a processional Spanish GP, with drivers already proposing changes for Formula 1&#8217;s return in 2027<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020315197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"The start of the Spanish GP: drivers struggled to overtake throughout the race","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Mercedes","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,117,478,29],"42wp_author":[13],"class_list":["post-2237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-f1","tag-lando-norris","tag-madring","tag-spanish-gp","42wp_author-luana-marino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2258,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions\/2258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020315197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=2237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}