Max Verstappen is expecting Formula 1’s latest new race on the calendar to come with a generous helping of danger when the championship arrives in Madrid this weekend.
The four-time world champion has already sampled the brand-new Madring – albeit from the comfort of Red Bull’s simulator – and his verdict is hardly a reassuring one.
The Dutchman predicts the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix could produce plenty of drama, with the unforgiving new circuit potentially handing the drivers a few very expensive lessons along the way.
Verstappen expects the walls to bite
The 22-corner Madrid circuit represents a completely new challenge for almost the entire F1 field, and early evidence suggests there will be little room for error.
A recent Formula 3 test at the venue produced 19 red flags across two days, with 11 triggered by cars making contact with the barriers. That history has already raised the prospect of a chaotic maiden F1 weekend, and Verstappen sees plenty of reasons for those fears.
Asked whether he had experienced the circuit on his home simulator, Verstappen said:
“Yeah I did, we also have it on the F1 sim. It's going to be very difficult. It's not an easy track. If you do a few laps in a row, it's always hard to cross the line and say 'I nailed the lap'.
“It's very hard. It also has a tendency of creating some big shunts in some places.”
©F3
That last observation should certainly get the attention of the drivers.
Verstappen compared Madrid to another circuit where bravery and precision must coexist with walls that appear to rush towards the car at frightening speed.
“It reminds me a little bit of Jeddah in a way, with fast corners and the walls being very close,” he added.
That combination could make qualifying particularly unforgiving. On a circuit where a driver needs to attack to find lap time, even the smallest misjudgment could turn an impressive lap into a rendezvous with the barriers.
Red Bull facing a giant question mark
Verstappen arrives in Madrid fresh from a podium at Monza, where he extracted everything possible from his Red Bull to finish third behind the dominant Mercedes and McLaren runners.
But the Dutchman knows that performance offers little indication of what awaits in Spain. Unlike Monza, where teams had mountains of historical data, Madrid is effectively a blank sheet of paper.
“It was a great result for us in Monza and we really maximized our performance there to secure a podium,” Verstappen reflected in his team’s Spanaish Grand Prix preview.
“Looking ahead to Madrid, it’s hard to predict how we’ll perform there. We’ve practiced on the simulator and it seems like a more challenging track to drive, as with most street circuits, especially because there are so many tricky corners.”
Ferrari has the unusual distinction of having gathered additional real-world knowledge of the venue, while the rest of the field must begin its education when the cars hit the track for free practice.
For Verstappen, Friday therefore represents less a routine practice day than an accelerated crash course in everything from grip levels to tyre behaviour and car balance.
“We’ll also have to assess how much grip there is on Friday and build from there. Practice will be important to learn as much as possible before qualifying begins,” Verstappen continues.
Read also: Verstappen felt ‘like a turtle’ against Mercedes drivers in Italian GPYet beneath the caution, there is also an unmistakable sense of opportunity.
“That said, it’s a new circuit for everyone and hopefully we can hit the ground running and make a strong start,” Verstappen concluded.
And that may be the great unknown hanging over Madrid.
Nobody knows exactly which car will thrive, which driver will master the track or how aggressively the walls will punish mistakes. But if Verstappen’s simulator experience is anything to go by, the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix is unlikely to be short on action.
The drivers have 22 corners in which to discover the Madring’s secrets.
Some, Verstappen suspects, may discover them the hard way.
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