Details of the new circuit in Madrid which Formula 1 will race at from 2026 have been rumoured for months.
While it was long expected F1 would reveal a street circuit as the new home of the Spanish Grand Prix, the first official information released about the track today has indicated something slightly different. F1 refers to the new Ifema Madrid Circuit as a “hybrid” course.
The 20-turn track measures a little under five-and-a-half kilometres. Of that, around 1.5km – just over a quarter – is public roads. The rest is purpose-built.
There’s nothing new about creating a track by combining streets with purpose-built sections, of course. Existing F1 venues such as Singapore and Las Vegas already do that, as did past circuits like Adelaide in Australia.
What’s different about Madrid is the ratio between the two. Those circuits all feature short permanent sections where the pits and paddock are situated, while closed public roads form the majority of the track. Madrid’s new circuit will be largely the opposite.
The existing roads of the Recinto Ferial site, home to the Ifema exhibition centre, will form the basis of the start/finish area. But much of the rest of the track will use road which hasn’t been laid yet. The purpose-built section of track will be constructed in the Valdebebas site to the north.
F1 enlisted Dromo to develop the track design. The Italian architects previously masterminded revisions to other circuits, including Zandvoort’s overhaul for its return to the F1 calendar.
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From the start/finish area, drivers will negotiate a left-right chicane. With the track measuring between 12 and 15 metres wide in places, its designers expect it will offer up to four likely overtaking spots, and this will be the first of them.
From there they build up to a top speed of over 300kph through a the curved acceleration zone. The next braking area, at turn five, should offer another overtaking opportunity.
As drivers accelerate away from this corner they will pass beneath the M11 motorway and climb rapidly, entering the purpose-built section of track. Turn 10, which will be named Valdebebas, is likely to prove the track’s signature corner.
Drivers will have a blind approach to the fast right-hander which turns through well over 180 degrees. It is expected to be banked, though exactly how steep remains to be decided.
Dromo CEO Jarno…
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