Before the Spanish Grand Prix the Madring was “a car killer”. After it the drivers had a different word: useless. Formula 1’s first race in Madrid for 45 years was a procession, with overtakes counted on one hand and reports suggesting the total was lower than at Monaco, where ten passes were completed this year. Several drivers said they almost fell asleep. Max Verstappen, who finished second, dismissed early explanations for the lack of action in a single expletive. By Monday the organisers had promised changes for 2027. Here is what went wrong and what they intend to do about it.

The warnings were about the wrong thing

Every prediction in the build-up concerned danger: Carlos Sainz’s safety cars and red flags, the 19-stoppage Formula 3 test, the walls at La Monumental. The race produced one virtual safety car, for a stopped Aston Martin, and it decided the result only because Lando Norris could not pit under it and Kimi Antonelli could. The problem was the opposite of chaos. Cars could follow each other but not pass, and the tyres were durable enough that a one-stop race was obvious to every top team, so strategy could not separate the field either. Verstappen had said on Saturday that he needed to “figure out where to overtake” to win. He never found out.

What the drivers said

The Race collected the reaction: drivers described the circuit’s design as useless for racing and called for “obvious changes” to create overtaking chances. The complaints centred on the corner sequences before the longest straights, which are too fast and too flowing for a following car to get close enough to use the straight, and on braking zones too short for Overtake Mode to close the gap it opens. Sainz, the home driver who had championed the race, was not spared. Nico Rosberg suggested he should share blame for the overtaking issues, having been part of the consultation on the layout. Guenther Steiner called the debut “a failure” and warned Madrid it had to fix the track quickly.

The changes being planned

The organisers responded within 24 hours, promising alterations before the 2027 race, and The Race reported that three areas of the circuit are under review. The likeliest fixes are the ones drivers proposed: tightening the corner before the main straight so that cars arrive with a bigger speed differential, extending a braking zone to give a realistic passing point, and revising the flowing section that currently strings cars out. Motorsport.com’s list of five potential fixes also included changes to run-off that would let drivers attack kerbs more aggressively. The circuit is part permanent, part existing roads around the IFEMA conference centre, which limits what can be done cheaply, and The Race has already argued that one of the mooted fixes would not have saved Sunday’s race on its own.

What the Madring got right

The venue is not the problem. For a first-time event the weekend ran smoothly, the crowds were large and the logistics worked, which is more than most debut races manage. The banked La Monumental corner was visually striking and the setting delivered the capital-city atmosphere Formula 1 wanted when it moved the Spanish Grand Prix here. The “car killer” reputation was, in the end, an overestimate. The layout simply does not produce racing, and that is fixable.

Why this matters beyond Madrid

Formula 1 has bet on Madrid as its Spanish home on a long contract, with Barcelona keeping a separate round for now. A circuit that produces Monaco levels of overtaking without Monaco’s prestige is a commercial problem as much as a sporting one, and the speed of the organisers’ response suggests they know it. The other lesson is about new circuits generally: Baku, the calendar’s most chaotic venue, was designed by the same process that produced the Madring. The difference was luck as much as judgement. Our comparison of street circuits argued that a track’s reputation hardens in its first two years. Madrid has one left to change it.

Frequently asked questions

Why was the race so boring?

The layout made overtaking almost impossible, with very few passes, and low tyre degradation removed strategy as a factor.

Will the Madring be changed?

Yes. Organisers have promised changes, with three areas of the circuit reported to be under review for 2027.

What did drivers say?

Several called the circuit useless for racing and said they almost fell asleep.

Was the event a failure?

The event ran well. The criticism is of the layout, not the organisation.