George Russell has not yet driven a meter on the Madring, but already calls the new circuit ‘the most dangerous on the calendar’. The Brit came to that conclusion after his first experience with the track in the simulator. Russell was initially surprised by the 19 red flags during the earlier Formula 3 test, but said after his first impression of the Spanish Grand Prix track: “Back then I was actually surprised that there were only 19 red flags.”
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Before the first Grand Prix weekend on the Madring kicked off, Formula 3 was already allowed to test on the new circuit. However, this turned into a real red flag storm, with the red flag being waved no less than 19 times. “I told the media earlier that I was a bit surprised when I heard about the many red flags in F3,” George Russell said about Madrid. The Brit has since had to revise that opinion. “And then after I had driven on the simulator, I was surprised that there were only 19 red flags, so it really is an insane circuit.”
‘Most dangerous circuit on the calendar’
Like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton before him, Russell also compared the Madring to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. “I would describe it as perhaps the most dangerous circuit on the entire calendar, because there are really fast corners, somewhat in the style of Jeddah,” he continued. “The walls are very close to the track, so there is no room for mistakes. But on the other hand, you have other corners that are quite similar to Baku, where you enter a slow braking zone from high speed and simultaneously brake and steer, which can easily cause the tires to lock up.”
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According to Russell, that is also the challenge for the drivers. “If you lock your wheels there, you end up in the wall, so I’m looking forward to trying it out. I think it’s going to be quite a challenge for us as drivers. During the race it will be difficult to overtake, so all in all it’s not easy.”
That the Madring leaves almost no room for mistakes was also evident from the first free practice of Formula 2. Both Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Laurens van Hoepen ended up in the barriers then. Fortunately, both drivers remained uninjured.
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