Is the Madrid circuit a ‘car-killer’? What Formula 1 star Max Verstappen expects

It goes without saying that Madring is a special circuit on the World Championship calendar. After all, no Grand Prix star has yet completed a Formula 1 race weekend on the new track on the outskirts of the Spanish capital. However, given the track layout and their preparations for the 14th race weekend of the season in the simulator, the drivers are already in agreement: that is not the only reason why a special challenge awaits them this weekend.

Many Formula 1 drivers are certain that the circuit at the IFEMA exhibition centre is virtually unforgiving. Some of the Grand Prix stars have even described the 5.416 km circuit as a real ‘car-killer’. Can Max Verstappen confirm this assessment? The Red Bull Racing star had already completed a few laps on the new GP circuit on Media Thursday – though, of course, he wasn’t driving a GP car, but a road-going racer.

The 28-year-old Dutchman said on the sidelines of the Spanish GP circuit: “For me, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the perfect track – I tend to prefer the old circuits. But I’ve done a few laps here, and I can say it’s going to be a challenge – it’s a difficult circuit.”

“Let’s see how it goes in the Formula 1 car. But this track can certainly be a car-killer. Because in some places, a moment’s hesitation can end in a crash. But it’s exactly the same in Jeddah. We’ve talked about that, but we just have to deal with it. We need to find out where the limit is and try to keep everything under control. But of course, when you’re pushing to the limit, it’s easy to make mistakes. Let’s see how the weekend goes. The circuit does have far more slow corners than Jeddah, but as far as my gut feeling goes, it’s similar here to Saudi Arabia.”

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Madrid: Das Rennen Re-Live

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13.09.2026 - 17:30