The new Madring: plenty of background on the return of the Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid

The Madring is brand new, but the Spanish Grand Prix is a well-established classic: A Spanish Grand Prix was held as part of the Formula 1 World Championship as far back as 1951 (a street circuit in Pedralbes, Barcelona), but the origins of the Spanish Grand Prix actually date back to 1913.

What was grandly billed as the ‘Grand Prix’ back then and held in Guadarrama near Madrid was a real sham – a race run under touring car regulations! The winner was Rolls-Royce driver Carlos de Salamanca.

Even before that, there was the Catalonia Cup in 1908 and 1909 in Sitges (near Barcelona). That wasn’t a proper Spanish Grand Prix either, although a genuine single-seater veteran won – Jules Goux.

And that brings us to the question for the Spanish version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’: What was the name of the first permanent racecourse in Spain?

That’s right, the ‘Autódromo Nacional de Terramar’ in Sitges – an oval!

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Madrid: Das Rennen Re-Live

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13.09.2026 - 17:15

The layout featured spectacular banked corners with inclines of up to 66 degrees!

That’s a nice parallel to today, because modern full-throttle drivers will also find a steep bend on the Madrid circuit, albeit not at 60 degrees: ‘La Monumental’, a seemingly endless right-hander with a stadium-like atmosphere.

How steep is the Monumental compared to other Formula 1 circuits? Let’s have a look …

Indianapolis Turn 13: 9 degrees. Zandvoort Hugenholtz: 19 degrees. Nürburgring Carousel: 20 degrees. Madring – La Monumental: 24 degrees. Monza ‘Steilwand’: 37 degrees. Avus ‘Steilwand’: 43 degrees.

So Madring certainly isn’t setting a new record, but it will still be a real eye-catcher.

The Barcelona Grand Prix has taken four different forms: at the Sitges oval and on the Pedralbes circuit, as mentioned, as well as on Montjuïc hill and at today’s circuit near Montmeló, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Montjuïc was picturesque, but extremely dangerous: in 1969, wing failures on the Lotus cars driven by Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt led the motorsport governing body to intervene and ban wing extensions overnight. Rolf Stommelen’s serious accident in 1975 brought the Montjuïc street circuit to an end.

Montjuich hatte viel Atmosphäre, war aber brandgefährlich

Foto: Grand Prix Photo

From 1968 to 1975, the race took place alternately at Montjuïc and at Jarama, 30 km north of Madrid.

It was particularly impressive to see how Gilles Villeneuve held off his rivals at Jarama in 1981. His only advantage was his speed on the start-finish straight. There, the Canadian drove at exactly the right speed and positioned his car so skilfully that he was able to keep a long line of rivals in his rear-view mirror for 28 laps. On several occasions, Ligier driver Jacques Laffite was neck and neck with him, but it wasn’t enough. The top five – Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques Laffite, John Watson, Carlos Reutemann and Elio de Angelis – finished within just 1.24 seconds of one another!

Gilles Villeneuve führt den D-Zug von Jarama an

Foto: Grand Prix Photo

Back to the present: the people of Madrid have signed a contract with Formula 1 to host the Spanish Grand Prix from 2026 to 2035. The race will continue to be held in Barcelona, but it will now be known as the Catalan Grand Prix.

Since the start of talks with IFEMA and its representatives, Formula 1 has worked through a series of circuit variants, leading to the current design – with an estimated qualifying lap time of around 1 minute and 30 seconds.

“From the very first idea to today’s circuit, there were 24 track models, but beyond that there were also numerous studies of sub-variants and various detailed considerations,” said Craig Wilson, Head of Vehicle Performance at F1, who was involved in the process from the outset.

The layout offers everything from fast corners and tight chicanes to long straights and short full-throttle sections – a varied experience for anyone behind the wheel. “I think it will be a nice challenge for the drivers,” believes Wilson.

The circuit utilises both public roads and private land, meaning that some sections feel more like a street circuit whilst others resemble a permanent circuit – similar to the Miami International Autodrome, to name an example from the current Formula 1 calendar.

Das Motto der Madrilenen: Vom Madring bis zum Himmel

Foto: Madring

An elevated road runs across the site, which means the circuit layout will include two short tunnel sections to connect the Recinto Ferial complex with the Valdebebas extension area and vice versa.

Der neue Madring

Foto: Madring

La Monumental is clearly the showpiece section, at 550 metres in length (and featuring SAFER barriers, as in the IndyCar Series), but the other corners are also formidable.

T1: One of the best overtaking opportunities; the cars come off a 523-metre-long straight. Distance from pole position to the braking point for the first corner: 252 metres.

Hartes Anbremsen zu Kurve 1, hinten die grösste Nationalflagge von Spanien

Foto: Madring

T2: Lowest point on the circuit (671.05 metres above sea level)

T3: The Hortaleza, a fast right-hander leading into the fastest section of the circuit.

T4: A high-speed right-hander that should be taken almost flat out.

T5/6: Hard braking required; technical finesse is essential.

T6/7: Here the track climbs at a steep 8.3 per cent until it reaches Turn 7 at 696.7 metres, the highest point of the track. After Turn 6, the track passes under the M11 motorway.

Eine von zwei kurzen Tunnel-Passagen

Foto: Madring

T8: The Bunker – another highly technical section, with a downhill gradient of up to 5.3 per cent. Why ‘The Bunker’? Because there are two bunkers here dating from 1936, from the time of the Civil War.

T9: A slight kink that most riders won’t even notice as a bend.

T10/11: A chicane that slows things down a little before La Monumental.

T12: La Monumental, THE corner of the Madring, with up to 24 degrees of camber and a length of 550 metres.

La Monumental, hier beim Training der Formel-3-Autos

Foto: Madring

T13: An overtaking opportunity after the straight following La Monumental.

T14/15/16: Fast, flowing sections.

T17: Hard braking manoeuvre.

T18: Norte, immediately after the tunnel linking Valdebebas to IFEMA.

T19: Another fast right-hander.

T20: This is where the slowest part of the circuit begins, around exhibition halls 14 and 12.

T21/22: Two 90-degree bends before heading back to the start and finish.

The Madring circuit is lapped 57 times for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Spanish flag will often be seen on screen; reportedly the largest in the country, measuring 416 square metres, flying from a 54-metre-high flagpole.

The Formula 1 race will give a further boost to tourism in Madrid: the Spanish capital (population 3.5 million) welcomed 11.2 million visitors in 2025, 59 per cent of whom came from abroad.

The people of Madrid are proud of how well the exhibition centre is connected to the city centre via the underground. It’s a world of difference from Jarama 45 years ago.