Alex Albon has voiced serious concerns about safety at the new Madring circuit, host of the Spanish Grand Prix, particularly regarding the massive banked corner, La Monumental.
Turn 12, dubbed La Monumental, is a 550-metre-long banked corner with around 24 degrees of banking. It was designed as the circuit's signature feature, taking over Spanish GP hosting duties from Barcelona, and will become the 79th different circuit to host a world championship grand prix. However, for Albon, the uniqueness brings risk.
After a track walk, Albon highlighted blind spots in several corners. "There are a lot of high-speed corners, a lot of blind corners; it gives me vibes of Macau, but more for an F1 track. It is a little bit concerning: the blind spots in some of the corners," he said. He hopes race control will be quick with VSCs or red flags if a car stops out of sight. "Inevitably, there are going to be a few crashes this weekend," he added.
His second concern is the track surface, resurfaced in May, which remains slippery and could produce marbles. "I worry about the marbles in the race. It's very low grip. The track was resurfaced quite late, like Turkey 2020 when oils were still coming off. You then form a single line because all the rubber is only in one place, and if you stray away from that line, there's no grip," Albon explained. He also pointed to Turn 12's high-speed nature, especially during cool-down laps. "I am quite concerned about the cool-down laps when drivers are doing slow laps. I don't think there's a correct place you can position the car. If you put the car up top, the line drifts to the middle of the track, then you come back, so you're not in a perfect place."
Albon doubts the banked corner will offer much overtaking. "I personally don't think you can do that many lines. The track's quite narrow, and it's different when you have clean air and there's space. Whereas, if you have a little snap, you're into the wall immediately. Drivers aren't as willing to stick it up to the top of the banking and take the risk of running a high line. I hope I'm proven wrong, but I don't think that part of the track is going to offer that much overtaking," he stated.
Furthermore, Albon noted the absence of a defined apex at La Monumental. "I like to go on a scooter and drive the track eye level. You really get a different immersion of how little visibility there is around some of the corners. These long corners have no apex point, and many are late apexes. So you're swinging in from a blind spot and have to pick an imaginary spot a few hundred metres ahead; that's really challenging. It's a lot of repetition and muscle memory to get that timing right because you basically can't see an apex."
With limited visibility from the cockpit, Albon expects practice sessions to be crucial for adaptation. "When you're low down in the cockpit, obviously the visibility is a lot harder, so that will be interesting," he concluded. Albon's concerns serve as an early warning for organisers and the FIA to ensure safety at the new circuit that promises extreme challenges.
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