1996 Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill has pondered whether the increasing presence of street circuits on the calendar is related to concerns over the 2026 regulations.
This week it was announced the Spanish Grand Prix will be moving from Barcelona to Madrid from 2026 with a semi-permanent track based around the IFEMA convention.
The sport’s return to the Spanish capital will see the schedule comprise eight street venues, equating to a third of the calendar if 24 races remain heading into the new era.
The extensive overhaul to the planned engine regulations has been set since 2022. The revised units, which will be run solely using sustainable fuels, will target a 50-50 split in power output between the internal combustion engine and electrical power, with a combined maximum output of 1000bhp.
But there have been worries amongst teams as simulator runs flagged issues regarding energy recovery on the straights, with reigning World Champion Max Verstappen even going as far as labelling the next-generation cars “terrible” during last year.
Although FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis has branded such remarks as premature, Red Bull Technical Pierre Wache has claimed that plans for active aero only represent a short-term solution to the matter.
Amid his declaration that the new cars will also have reduced straight-line speed, Hill has questioned if the move towards more street tracks is a response to such problems.
“I like to watch the sport. I like to watch the developments,” Hill told the Sky F1 podcast.
“The thing that I would just add on the Madrid announcement is that we’ve got new engine regulations coming in, and then the talk is of the difficulties they’re going to have in extracting consistent performance from the cars.
“This move towards a tighter, twistier circuit is going in the direction of let’s say Formula E which has chosen to have its races in city centres and also on very, it has to be said, restricted circuits.
“I hope that’s not an indication of a few concessions made towards the fact that these cars are going to be down on performance compared to where they are now.”
However, Hill did address that he wasn’t opposed to the sport’s changing dynamic, citing he was optimistic that Madrid would prove to be a positive addition to the series.
“F1 has to adapt to new demands placed on it from a car manufacturing point of view as well as a government imposing correct environmental questions,” the Briton added.
“I hope it’ll be an exciting circuit and the most important thing is that the racing is exciting and the cars can race there and then we’ll be happy.”
Las Vegas became the latest street circuit to make its way onto the calendar in 2023, with a night race that incorporated the famous Strip Stretch into its track configuration.
Despite the grand prix transpiring to be a success after reservations, Hill has warned that F1 adds that such events should not come at the expense of the classic venues.
“With the race in Vegas, we had a very annoyed Max Verstappen talking about the nature of circuits and the kind of circuits you’d like to race on,” he acknowledged.
“I think that on balance, having a circuit that is close to a major city centre is a good thing. It does improve all of the experience that you’re going to get if you go to a grand prix.
“But we do need also to keep the Spas and stuff. Of course Spa was actually a street circuit, roads that joined towns in the Ardennes. That’s how they originally raced on it. In fact a lot of the races that F1 or motorsport started on were just roads, so this is nothing new.
“It’s a kind of a bespoke circuit inside a city, but that’s how motor racing started. Closed loop circuit specialist tracks like Barcelona were actually quite a newish invention.”
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