F1 in Madrid: Like Monaco but twice as long and none of the glamour

“You only have to look at the layout, and it’s quite clear that it’s going to be a poor track for racing,” said Haas’ Oliver Bearman. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri concurred: “I think the only track more difficult to overtake on is Monaco, so it’s not ideal,” said the McLaren driver.

“Around here, if you just drive a little bit in the middle, then you can’t pass,” explained Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who indeed held off Norris for second place after stopping like Antonelli under the VSC. Antonelli’s win makes his total eight, and he now has an 81-point lead over his teammate Russell.

The good news, considering there’s another nine years left of the Madring deal, is that there are already changes planned to the track for next year. Turns 5-6, 13, and 20 are all going to be looked at to create better overtaking opportunities, like wide entries to corners after heavy brake zones. The Madring’s series of corners that require trail braking might be a good challenge for a time trial, but they don’t make for good TV.

And it seems that unhappy drivers are the best way to get the FIA to do something. On the eve of the Madrid race, we learned that FIA President Mohammed Bin Sulayem wants to give Aston Martin more development resources after a conversation with Aston Martin’s lead driver, Fernando Alonso, overriding the existing process meant to do just that.

“I said, Fernando, I understand that it’s not acceptable that you are coming to your own country and then now, after two times the world champion, and you are [in] the last [place]. We did something earlier, in May, legally, for the team towards the engine to go and improve. And then I said to him, I’m not going to tell you what we are going to do, please tell me what you want, because you are the driver, come and tell me what do you want us to do to improve these results? Suddenly, you see everything change. And then I get a call, and then I had a meeting yesterday. We are here also to support,” Bin Sulayem said.