All kinds of news about F1.

[stephen]

2003 Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran dead at 56 - Motorsport.com https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news ... /10561436/

He was one of my favorites in late 90s CART when they were really fast beasts.

[bigblue]

Another Gil de Ferran obituary, sounds like he was a genuinely great guy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/67848628

[stephen]

The former Alfa Romeo Formula 1 outfit has been renamed as the Stake F1 team until they become the Audi factory outfit in 2026.

[organic]

Corruption probe in Singapore. Transport minister, Singapore GP promoter, has resigned after being charged.

The allegations of corruption involve the transport minister accepting gifts from the sole shareholder of the Singapore GP, Ong Beng Seng (Malaysian billionaire who was instrumental in bringing a grand prix to Singapore)

Currently Singapore insists the 2024 race will go ahead as planned

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/singa ... /10567078/

[Wouter]

No one was asking for another street circuit! Also a ten year contract!
Terrible outlay with 8 !! 90 degree bends.
Wrong choice again, they ignore the long-standing real old skool courses.

[Vanja #66]

That's a terrible layout, 0 overtaking chances. Both straights are followed by a chicane, meaning you get an easy chance to cut back under. The ambient looks awful as well, I hope there will be a world-wide petition to restore Barcelona circuit and never ever even think about this Madrid layout.

[DGP123]

No surprise. Spoke about the direction F1 was going, and morphing slowly into a FE calendar, whereby city tracks make them the cash. Horrible decision, but they don’t care about the racing.

[stephen]

F1 fans want more races on actual circuits rather than in the streets.

[LHamilton]

Which configuration is true? The one posted by F1 or by IFEMA? There is a big change..

Look at the roundabouts in relation to the pitch area.

Look at the roundabouts at the top, when you come out of the first tunnel (Valdebebas Tunnel). There is 3 roundabouts in succession. IFEMA shows you go all the way onto the third one, before the heading probably straight and later on turn into the purposeful racetrack area.

In F1s case, you only drive to the second roundabout, before heading into the purposeful racetrack area. You can see the difference also in the long, long sweeping turn in relation to where it cut the green pitch area. In F1s case, the sweeping turn barely, if at all, cuts the pitch area, whereas in IFEMAs case it does cut the pitch, albeit but slightly.

IFEMA:

F1:

[CaribouBread]

At this point I'd rather watch 10 boring races at Catalunya than another street circuit. Ten year contract while tracks like Spa and Monza are perennially under threat.

[chrstphrln]

Which configuration is true? The one posted by F1 or by IFEMA? There is a big change..

Look at the roundabouts in relation to the pitch area.

Look at the roundabouts at the top, when you come out of the first tunnel (Valdebebas Tunnel). There is 3 roundabouts in succession. IFEMA shows you go all the way onto the third one, before the heading probably straight and later on turn into the purposeful racetrack area.

In F1s case, you only drive to the second roundabout, before heading into the purposeful racetrack area. You can see the difference also in the long, long sweeping turn in relation to where it cut the green pitch area. In F1s case, the sweeping turn barely, if at all, cuts the pitch area, whereas in IFEMAs case it does cut the pitch, albeit but slightly.

IFEMA: https://i.redd.it/layout-of-ifema-madri ... e80d0b7f71

F1: https://i.redd.it/2026-madrid-track-map ... cdbc103944

I don't even know what you mean. This looks to me like the same race track from a different, steeper perspective.
A few inaccuracies due to blending the aerial shot with the graphics, but other than that?

However, I share the criticism. To me, it doesn't look like a route that would allow for exciting overtaking maneuvers.

[organic]

Boring layout and another street track. Well done F1 you've done it again

[DGP123]

Boring layout and another street track. Well done F1 you've done it again

They don’t care. $1bn from Vegas over 10 years & now £400m from Madrid. Raking it in now. This is only the beginning of LM’s milking of F1. London, Paris & New York will no doubt follow, along with breaking back into South Africa, most likely away from Kyalami, but a street track around Cape Town. FE type calendar within the decade, with the odd classic here & there.

I don’t see Verstappen sticking around too long

[AriaanGert]

I did have a look in google maps. If the layout is correctly presented it is a very tight thing. The track seems to go through a tunnel under the M11 and over the service road next to Pabellon 14. Check it out. There will also be a new part. Permanent? in the waste land with some inclination I guess. Not so sure it will be boring.

[dren]

Let's wait and see until we cry about how boring it will end up.