A debut that fell flat
The Madring took over the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend and delivered a race that gave the critics everything they needed. Overtaking was scarce in the grand prix and just as scarce in the support categories across the whole weekend. The reaction from fans since has been blunt, and much of it has come with suggestions for how the layout should be changed.
Jarno Zaffelli, chief executive of the company that designed the circuit, has now answered. His message is that the room for manoeuvre is narrow.
“Some changes are possible, but they are minimal,” Zaffelli told motorsport.com. “From what has been publicly stated, some of the options discussed seem to be closer to intentions that were already present in our original project, which included an overtaking opportunity at Turn 5.”
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The corners that were supposed to be different
That detail matters, because Turn 5 is one of the tightest points on the lap and was drawn with a different purpose. Zaffelli says the original plan called for a tighter corner with less cornering, and for gravel rather than asphalt on the inside of Turn 6.
“To force the drivers to take a slower route and avoid going straight because it would have penalised their lap time,” he explained. “The logic of the sequence wasn’t to gain time through banking, but to create two trajectories with opposing advantages.”
Two lines, each with a cost and a benefit. That is the mechanism that produces racing, and it did not survive the build in the form it was drawn.
Constraints, not a blank page
Zaffelli also pushed back on the idea that his team started with freedom. The site sits in a heavily built-up part of the city, with exhibition halls already designed and approved by planning authorities and a road network already laid out.
“A detailed map reveals that the layout faced very stringent constraints in many places,” he said. “This is precisely why a great deal of creativity was required: the constraints limited the scope of the design, but they didn’t determine a single solution.”
Madrid signed a ten-year deal to host the race. That leaves nine more editions on a circuit its designer says can be adjusted only at the margins.
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