Round 14 | Spain

A second homecomingA second homecoming

2026 SEASON

Welcome to Madrid

F1 goes to a regular stream of new venues, but rarely are they to be found within Europe. The Madring becomes the sixth venue to host the Spanish Grand Prix, and the second in Madrid (or, at least, Madrid-adjacent), taking over duties from Barcelona after 35 years at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Following a tough weekend at Monza, the team has an opportunity to bounce-back immediately. There's sure to be plenty of green in the grandstands as Fernando gets another homecoming, while it's also a home race for Mari, who gets another outing at the final scheduled European rounds of the F2 season.

RACE STARTS IN:

days

hrs

mins

secs

Session Times

FP1

FP2

FP3

Quali

Race

Toggle below to highlight parts of the track.

Sectors
Turns
Straight Mode
Overtake Mode

The layout looks challenging, it has a bit of everything. We don't know the grip level yet and that will have a huge impact on lap-time and car setup.

Pedro de la Rosa – Team Representative

Number of corners
22
Number of laps
57
Race distance
308.524km

NEED TO KNOW: SPANISH GP

THE CIRCUIT

THE GRAND PRIX

THE FACTS

THE TRAVEL GUIDE

LAST TIME OUT

THE CIRCUIT

The all-new Madring is a hybrid circuit, using a mix of public roads and bespoke constructed sections, baked into the layout of the Madrid Fairgrounds halls, in the manner that the Sochi Autodrom used the venues of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

It contains 22 corners in its 5.416km layout, including some very fast sweepers, changes of elevation, and also several 90° corners (of the type often seen where street circuits traverse intersections), underpasses beneath a highway, and 'La Monumental', a banked 270° curve covering around 550m of track.

It won't be quite as steep as Zandvoort's final turn – but it will be approached at much greater speed. Average speeds are expected to be towards the higher end of the range – but like all new circuits, we won't really know what to expect until the cars have been out in FP1.

THE GRAND PRIX

The new home of the Spanish Grand Prix is going to be a slightly smaller affair than the old, with the crowd in this first year limited to 110,000 – though there is provision to increase this to 140,000 in future seasons. The Madring, though, is doing something clever by concentrating its fans in the manner of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, with 45,000 spectators – roughly half the grandstand seats of the entire circuit – packed in around La Monumental. Accompanying that is a huge fan zone running all the way down to T17.

The mayor of Madrid is promoting this as the only grand prix in a major European capital, which is accurate in the sense the other contenders lie beyond the city walls, and does mean there are excellent transportation links from the track into the heart of Madrid, with events all over the city, and musical acts across the weekend at the circuit, all intended to get the next era of the Spanish Grand Prix off to a flying start.

THE FACTS

1 | The Madring is the sixth circuit to host the Spanish Grand Prix as a round of the F1 World Championship. The race made a debut in 1951 on a street circuit in the Pedralbes neighbourhood of Barcelona. It returned to Pedralbes in 1954. Jarama, north of Madrid, and a circuit in Barcelona's Montjuïc park, alternated years between 1968 and 1975, before Jarama hosted exclusively from 1976 to 1981. The race then did a five-year stint at the Circuito de Jerez between 1986 and 1990, before moving to the Circuit de Catalunya, where it stayed until 2025.

2 | The circuit is the seventh venue in Spain to host F1, with the Valencia Street Circuit hosting the European Grand Prix between 2008-2012. France also has seven circuits where F1 has raced – only the USA has more, with 12.

3 | The Jeddah Corniche circuit has 27 corners. The Madring is next on the list with 22 – though when Singapore's Marina Bay Circuit returns to its full length, it will rise from 19 to 23.

4 | The new Spanish Grand Prix trophy has been designed by legendary carrozzeria Pinanfarina. The styling house and coachbuilder, over the years, has worked for many of the world's greatest car marques – including a couple of custom cars for Aston Martin.

THE TRAVEL GUIDE

Madrid is a city that does things on its own schedule. Lunch begins from 14:00, dinner stretches late into the evening and the streets stay busy long after sunset. In September, summer is still very much in the air, with temperatures reaching 32°C on race day.

Situated in the north-east part of the city, close to Madrid-Barajas airport, Circuito de Madring is the best-connected circuit on the Formula One calendar. With Madrid Metro, trains and bus networks offering an easy route to the circuit and around the city, there's plenty opportunity to get stuck into everything Madrid has to offer.

For those wanting to get acquainted with Madrid's grander side, start at the Royal Palace. As the official residence of the Spanish royal family, the 3,418-room palace is one of the largest in the world and one of the city's great architectural landmarks. From the palace, it's an easy walk through Plaza de Oriente towards Plaza Mayor – the beating heart of Madrid filled with over four centuries of history, street performers and cafés to take cover from the heat.

If you're an art lover, Madrid is hard to beat. The city's Golden Triangle of Art encompasses three of its most important museums – the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofía – making this small area one of the world's greatest concentrations of art. Between them, the museums cover centuries of European art, from the Old Masters to some of the defining works of the modern era.

Close by, El Retiro provides a more relaxed way to spend an afternoon. Recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Madrid's beautiful 125-hectare park offers the perfect escape. Enjoy the 15,000 trees on foot or by horse-drawn carriage, take a boat onto the lake or entertain the family with the park's puppet shows.

With so much on offer, perhaps the best way to experience the city is to leave some room in the itinerary. Madrid rewards a little wandering. Take in the busy streets, neighbourhood bars and plentiful tapas spots and remember that, in this city, there is rarely any reason to hurry home.

LAST TIME OUT

This is a debut race for the Madring. Our Spanish Grand Prix record at the Circuit de Catalunya, however, has a best finish of sixth, for Lance in 2023, while Fernando has finished twice in the points, seventh in 2023 and ninth last year.

Last year it was a mixed Spanish Grand Prix for the team. Lance was forced to withdraw from the race, suffering pain in his hand and wrist as a long-term consequence of his 2023 operation. Fernando, however, carried the flag, thriving in the chaos of a Safety Car-affected three-stop strategy to put together a late-race burst of overtaking to finish P9, his first points of the season.

In our most recent race in Spain, at the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, a challenging weekend saw track temperatures reach 51°C. Lance and Fernando unfortunately experienced gearbox and battery issues, bringing their races to early ends. But both will hope to fare better in Madrid following significant upgrades to the chassis and power unit in recent races.

Homecoming

How Spain fell in love with F1

Fernando, Pedro, and Mari discuss the journey from niche pursuit to national passion, the support of Spanish fans, and what it means to race with an entire country behind you.

Discover more

How spain fell in love with F1 madrid page

Round 14 | Spain

A second homecomingA second homecoming

Welcome to Madrid

THE CIRCUIT

THE GRAND PRIX

THE FACTS

THE TRAVEL GUIDE

LAST TIME OUT

How Spain fell in love with F1

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