Vowles fears Madrid’s ‘car killer’ track will bite hard

Formula 1 is heading into uncharted territory this weekend, but the inaugural race at Madrid’s new Madring street circuit comes with a warning label attached: the venue may be spectacular, but it could also be brutally unforgiving.

The brand-new event will welcome F1 for the first time as the Spanish Grand Prix moves into a new era, replacing Barcelona as the country’s principal Formula 1 destination. Yet before a single Grand Prix car has completed a competitive lap, the circuit has already acquired a rather less glamorous reputation.

Williams team principal James Vowles has gone as far as describing Madring as a potential “car killer”, pointing to the alarming number of incidents during a recent Formula 3 test as evidence that the track could be particularly punishing on machinery.

“In the Formula 3 test there were 19 red flags and three broken chassis, broken suspensions,” Vowles told Spanish website Sport ahead of the weekend.

“OK, they’re Formula 3 drivers, but it’s a track that kills cars.”

That assessment is difficult to ignore. The two-day F3 running at the end of August was repeatedly interrupted, with 19 red flags punctuating the test and several cars suffering substantial damage.

For F1 teams, accustomed to spending millions of dollars perfecting machinery down to the smallest detail, the prospect of a circuit capable of chewing through cars is hardly comforting.

And the drivers themselves are expecting Madring to demand plenty from them.

Sainz: ‘A hell of a challenging track’

Few drivers are better placed to judge the new circuit than Carlos Sainz. The Madrid-born Williams driver was given the distinction of being the first F1 racer to experience the venue in a road car back in May, and he has since put in extensive simulator mileage to prepare for his home race.

What he discovered was not the straightforward blast around a modern street circuit he may initially have expected.

"I had my first proper laps in the simulator with the car [in August] and I must say it's a hell of a challenging track," the Williams driver told F1.com.

"It's one of the most challenging tracks I've ever done in a simulator and for a driver it's going to be tough. I think it has a mix of Jeddah and Baku [characteristics], which are probably the two most challenging tracks for a driver – and a bit of Singapore.

“I think it's a track that has quite a bit of character when you drive it in the simulator.”

That cocktail of references should make F1 drivers sit up. Jeddah brings high-speed commitment and unforgiving walls, Baku combines long straights with awkward, technical sections, while Singapore is notorious for its physical demands.

Madring, it seems, has borrowed liberally from all three.

And then there is La Monumental.

The spectacularly banked section, built with a gradient of 24 per cent, is expected to become one of the defining features of the new circuit. But Sainz’s experience in the simulator suggests that its apparent simplicity could be deceptive.

"It is probably more challenging than I thought," the Spaniard added. "I thought it would be a flat out, easy flat-out corner and just like an acceleration corner.

"It's turned out to be much more challenging, at least in the simulator in a good way. With all that banking, all that control of the car through there, it will be a big challenge.”

Bortoleto sees a ‘dangerous’ side

Sainz is hardly alone in expecting Madring to bite.

While Red Bull’s Max Verstappen expects a few “big shunts” to disrupt proceedings, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was already eyeing the circuit with some caution when he spoke to reporters last weekend at Monza, admitting that its combination of speed and complexity could make for a precarious first visit.

“It looks like a very interesting track, dangerous track, but at the same time very challenging and it's nice to race in a new track like that,” the Brazilian said.

Madring has been designed to deliver spectacle, but its novelty means teams and drivers have no real-world F1 data from which to build their weekend preparations.

Simulator work can only go so far when the actual track, tyre behaviour, bumps, kerbs and grip levels remain unknown.

In a bid to mitigate risk and keep things under control this weekend, the FIA has restricted active aero usage to just two Straight Mode zones.

• Read also: Verstappen warns of ‘big shunts’ at daunting new Madrid circuit

Still, not everyone is reaching for the emergency brake.

Cadillac driver Sergio Perez has played down the safety concerns, arguing that Madring should not prove any more hazardous than Jeddah.

Regardless, Madrid is about to give Formula 1 its first proper answer. The circuit has already survived an F3 trial by fire. Now comes the considerably faster, heavier and more sophisticated machinery of F1.

If Vowles is right, the Madring will not merely test the drivers. It may test the cars’ ability to survive it.

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