Two Straight Line Zones, One Very Nervous Paddock
The FIA has decided that Madrid’s brand new street circuit deserves precisely two zones where drivers can flatten their rear wings and go looking for extra speed. Two. Not four, not five, just two, on a track that everybody involved keeps comparing to Jeddah, a circuit famous for punishing the smallest mistake with a wall that does not move out of the way.
That number matters more than it sounds. Straight-mode zones are what is left of the old DRS system under the 2026 rules, letting drivers open their rear wings for reduced drag on designated straights before snapping back to full downforce for the corners. Some circuits get five of these zones. Belgium and Australia both got five. Monaco, unsurprisingly, got none at all given how little straight there is to speak of. Madrid gets two, which puts it level with the Netherlands and Japan and tells you plenty about how the FIA rates the overtaking prospects at this new venue before a single competitive lap has been driven.
Where the Two Zones Actually Sit
The first straight-mode zone runs down the start-finish straight, which is the obvious pick and would have been embarrassing to leave out. The second sits on the very next straight, immediately after Turn 3. That is it. Everything else, including the entire second and third sectors of the lap, runs with active aero locked out.
That second sector is where things get interesting, because it contains Turn 12, La Monumental, the banked right-hander the circuit is being sold on as its signature feature. Drivers will take that corner, and the rest of the lap surrounding it, without the ability to trim the wing for extra pace. Whatever spectacle Madrid produces through that section, it will be produced on pure mechanical grip and driver nerve, not a wing flap doing the work for them.
| Circuit | Straight-Mode Zones |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 5 |
| Australia | 5 |
| China | 4 |
| Barcelona | 4 |
| Austria | 4 |
| Britain | 4 |
| Hungary | 4 |
| Italy | 4 |
| Miami | 3 |
| Canada | 3 |
| Japan | 2 |
| Netherlands | 2 |
| Spain (Madrid) | 2 |
| Monaco | 0 |
Why the FIA Played It Safe
Handing a brand new, unproven street circuit only two zones looks like a governing body hedging its bets rather than trusting the layout to reward drivers who open their wings in bold places. Given what has already happened at this venue, that caution is hard to argue with. A recent F3 test at the Madring produced 19 red flags, with 11 of those caused by contact with the barriers. That is not a statistic you shrug off; that is a circuit telling you, loudly and repeatedly, that the margin for error is close to zero.
Andrea Stella, team principal of McLaren, made much the same point when speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. He described Madrid as unlike anything else on the calendar, walls included.
“With these walls, it can be similar to Jeddah, but there’s many more corners and many more high-speed chicanes. It’s tricky and hopefully it will be just cleaner sessions compared to those that I understand have been the case for the testing that happened there.” – Andrea Stella
“There were several contacts with the walls and they were all pretty hard, so hopefully we will have cleaner sessions when we have Formula 1 running there.” – Andrea Stella
That is a team principal picking his words with real care, and you can hardly blame him. Nobody wants to be the person who predicted a clean weekend and got a red-flag festival instead.
Ferrari’s Head Start, Sort Of
Ferrari is the only outfit with any prior mileage at the Madring, having run a filming day there in July, and early footage from that session already hinted at a circuit that might strangle overtaking chances before the season even gets there. Fred Vasseur is doing his best to talk that advantage down, and given how track conditions can shift between a promotional filming day and a genuine grand prix weekend, he has a point.
“The track was mega green when we went there. I think it will be a tricky one. It will be a tricky one for everybody, perhaps a bit difficult to overtake.” – Fred Vasseur
“For me, it’s a little bit like Jeddah, high-speed corners between the walls and so on. And a new track is always a challenge. We are going there with zero data and it’s exciting for me to have also a new venue on the calendar and a new track.” – Fred Vasseur
A “mega green” surface and 19 red flags in testing are not exactly a ringing advert for a circuit that is about to host its first Formula 1 race. Combine that with only two windows where the cars can actually reduce drag, and the ingredients are there for a race defined by track position rather than overtaking.
What This Means for the Weekend Ahead
With active aero locked out across two thirds of the lap, whoever gets qualifying right on Saturday is likely to be the driver who controls Sunday too. That should sharpen minds at the very top of the standings, where Kimi Antonelli arrives with a healthy championship lead and a habit of winning recently, while Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue chasing a season that has produced everything except a win. Track position will matter more here than almost anywhere else this year, and a circuit with barely any straight-mode zones and a wall-lined reputation is not exactly begging for late-race heroics.
Practice gets underway on Friday 11 September at 11:30 UTC, with qualifying on Saturday 12 September at 14:00 UTC and the race on Sunday 13 September at 13:00 UTC, check the calendar for your local time. Given the walls, the dust and now the aero restrictions, it would be a genuine surprise if this weekend passed without a red flag of its own.
Two zones on a circuit this unforgiving is not a compromise, it is a governing body admitting it has no idea what Madrid is about to produce, and choosing the cautious option rather than find out the hard way mid-race.
