‘A failure’ - Guenther Steiner issues Madrid warning after F1 debut slammed

Ex-Formula 1 team boss has warned that the Madrid event will become “a failure” if changes to the track aren’t made that improve the racing.

F1 made its debut at the Madring last weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix, though the event was met with harsh criticism from drivers and fans.

For all of the warnings of the street circuit producing chaos, the weekend ultimately saw little in the way of incidents, while overtaking proved extremely difficult in the race.

Changes to the layout have been proposed for the 2027 Madrid race.

A lesson from Vegas for Madrid

Speaking on The Red Flag podcast, ex-Haas team boss and current Tech3 MotoGP CEO Guenther Steiner has likened the reception for Madrid to that of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

However, he notes that the Vegas event has been well received by fans, while Madrid will become “a failure” if it can’t improve its race next year.

“In Vegas, the first year, [people were saying], ‘Oh, why would you go to Vegas? It’s the most stupid thing to do’.

“It has become a very good thing, and something worked straight away, and something needed some fine-tuning.

“If next year Madrid is not sorted out, I would see it as a failure because it’s a 10-year contract; it needs to be fixed. There cannot be a second year like this.

“You remember Vegas the first year with the drainage covers coming up; we were there, ‘This is a disaster, they don’t know what they are doing’.

“So, there was negativity there. Now Vegas has become almost an iconic race already. It seems like it’s been there forever, because it’s so cool.”

Madrid’s inclusion on the calendar is part of F1 and Liberty Media’s push to host races nearer major cities and be more accessible.

Steiner doesn’t see this as a bad thing, compared to the problems some classic tracks face, while pointing to the Hungaroring as proof that this can work.

“And I’m not trying to defend Madrid about what happened on the race track,” he added.

“But I think, if you come to these races and you go to Spa, people will just not love it because you want the cool race, but you want that the race is good as well.

“Because otherwise, yes, go and see another race, but I cannot find a restaurant in the evening. Guess why? Because there isn’t one.

“And that’s not a good idea, to make a global event in places [with limited infrastructure]. The paddock, it’s like [from] 40 years ago.

“It’s the same in Barcelona. Guys, you need to get some money, you can make money with this race track - just fix it. Hungary has done a great job.

“They realised that their race track is 30, 40 years old, they needed to do something.

“They did it, they fixed it, and they will have the race forever because Hungary is a good place, it’s near Budapest, and there you go. So, there are possibilities.”