Following Ferrari’s filming day test at the new MADRING circuit, Lewis Hamilton believes the new track will be a ‘difficult circuit to overtake on’ due to the lack of straights.
Ferrari became one of the first teams to take to the new track July 9th in a filming day for the Maranello-based team, with both the seven-time World Champion and teammate Charles Leclerc getting to experience the new track weeks after further completions to the new venue for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The filming day will have also gone some way to quell lingering doubts that the circuit would be complete in time for the race, set for September 13.
It enabled the Ferrari boys to have perhaps a slight edge in putting wheels on tarmac before others at the circuit, which is said to be boasting a capacity of over 100,000 fans.
Speaking to media, including Motorsport Week, at the Belgian Grand Prix on Thursday, Hamilton spoke of the difficulties of driving around such a nascent layout.
“We only had a few laps, so it was very dusty for a new circuit,” he said. “There was no grip, your tyres were basically covered in dust the whole time.
“The track was like 60 degrees the whole time. It looks like it will be a qualifying lap sort of circuit, and there’s not really any straights. So it looks like a difficult place to overtake.”
‘We’ll have to be brave’
Teammate Charles Leclerc was very upbeat about the MADRING, adding the cambered La Monumental turn a “very special corner”.
“It’s a corner where I feel in qualifying, we’ll have to… I will say it in a polite way… but we’ll have to be very brave because it’s going to be on the limit,” he said.
He added: “Yes, I do believe it can become one of the most iconic corners of the season, especially once the grandstand will be built, that will also add to the experience of the corner.
“Can it fit my driving style? I mean, I like city tracks in general. I have little doubt that I will love MADRING. Whether it will fit me or not, I don’t really know.
“One thing is for sure, is you’ll have to go full commitment. And this I always enjoy it in city tracks.”
The circuit is taking over the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the host of the race, the former now being on a rotational basis as the city’s very own Grand Prix.
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