Madring F1 ambassador slams Madring track

The hype for the big Madring F1 debut was off the charts ahead of Sunday's 2026 Spanish Grand Prix. The reality was very very different.

The excitement heading into race weekend in the suburbs of Madrid was palpable with team bosses, drivers and commentators all talking up the potential for high drama.

Instead we got a snoozefest with virtually no overtaking opportunities and another new track which underdelivered massively. Kimi Antonelli eventually claimed another race win but the entire afternoon was eminently and immediately forgettable.

The aftermath was predictably full of disappointment and acrimony, with many questioning whether this event was a project aimed purely at making a ton of money, instead of delivering great racing.

You knew it was bad when even the event's ambassador - current Williams star Carlos Sainz - admitted "it's poor" in his post-race debrief with media.

The 32-year-old Spaniard appeared to lay the blame at the door of F1's governing body the FIA in terms of the way the track was laid out, also voicing fears about safety on circuits like this.

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Sainz admits 'it's poor' in Madring debrief

"Same as in Jeddah and Baku, it's poor," he began.

"But it seems like the FIA is happy to go in this direction moving forward in terms of new circuits, which obviously, as drivers, we are raising our… not concerns - but our point of wanting to keep improving safety."

While many experts and TV viewers had primary focus on the lack of overtaking opportunities and the lack of on-track incident, Sainz was keen to hammer home his message about safety. And the potential for major accidents.

"We're going to go towards these circuits because going at 260km/h, 270km/h [162-168mph] on esses that you cannot see through is definitely eye-opening and definitely makes you question how safe everything is."

Rosberg says Sainz must take some of the blame

While Sainz was critical of the new track, 2016 world champion and now Sky Sports F1 pundit Nico Rosberg says the Williams star must accept some of the blame.

He explained: He claimed: “Carlos Sainz was the ambassador, so we need to criticise Carlos Sainz and they need to revisit the track layout for next year and create one good overtaking opportunity.

"We need that on this track, because it’s just too hard to overtake."

F1 has signed a 10-year contract with Madring, so we had all better hope that improvements will be made ahead of the 2027 race. The clock is already ticking.

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