Formula 1 will arrive in Madrid in the 2026 season, and the first contract will be for ten years until 2035. And since it will be a grand prix in the city, and not in the community as it was for ten years at the Jarama circuit (about 30 kilometers from Madrid), the question arose on which layout or which track will be used for the race. We tell you, because it’s now official.
What will the Formula 1 circuit in Madrid be like?
The route for Madrid’s return to F1 is a 5.47 kilometer long semi-urban circuit, designed by the Italian company Dromowhich won the competition against the omnipresent Tilke.
The race organizers wanted the circuit to pass through two pavilions of the famous IFEMA fairgrounds, and also to simulate a discotheque in a curve, but F1 did not see this at all clearly due to safety issues and it was ruled out. Finally, It will have 20 corners and the fastest lap is expected to be around 1:32, with maximum speeds of 320 km/h, four overtaking points, two tunnels and a gradient of 10 meters.
The highlight of the F1 circuit in Madrid will be a banked curve which will also leave the best images, and which is expected to also allow, like the one in Zandvoort, overtaking.
The Madrid F1 circuit will start in front of the main IFEMA pavilioninside the enclosure, and will surround the pavilions, before go out along the banks of the Seine and head towards the area where the permanent part of the route after passing through the Valdebebas tunnelright next to the current facilities of Real Madrid’s Valdebebas sports city, where you will find the famous banked curve and the vast majority of overtaking points.
From there, Part of the public road will be used to return to IFEMA, such as Via Dublin (next to the ‘Feria de Madrid’ Metro stop), which will lead back to the finish line after a lap that will last just over a minute and a half.
However, it is worth clarifying that the FIA must still give its approval to the circuit, that is, the new semi-urban layout of Madrid still has to be approved and accepted by the World Motor Sports Council to be part of the F1 calendar. although it is expected that it is simply a procedure.
Said semi-urban circuit will have a capacity to accommodate 110.000 aficionadosa figure that is scheduled to increase to 140,000 during the first half of the contract.
The Madrid F1 circuit will be traveled clockwise and work will begin in mid-2024, when there are still two years until the arrival of the race.
And what will the Madrid circuit be called? There is no leaked information about it, but following other recent examples you can imagine something like “Madrid street circuit” or perhaps including the name of IFEMA, which leads the organization.
Photo by: Formula 1
Madrid Circuit