Lando Norris arrives at Madrid’s brand-new Madring Circuit for the Spanish Grand Prix optimistic that the venue’s technical layout will better suit the McLaren MCL40 after a difficult outing at Monza, where the team’s car was compromised by the Italian track’s high-speed straight-line demands.
Norris, who sits 96 points behind Drivers’ Championship leader Kimi Antonelli with 171 points to his name, said the Madring Circuit’s combination of characteristics gives McLaren reason for confidence. “I’m hoping a few corners can help shift us back in the direction of being more competitive and give us a better chance of winning,” he said.
The Madring Circuit makes its Formula 1 debut this weekend as the new permanent home of the Spanish Grand Prix, replacing the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The venue features sharp elevation changes, a twisty technical section, and a banked curve called La Monumental with a 24% gradient. Norris drew comparisons to Zandvoort, where he won earlier this season. “Just the layout of everything is very different to Monza, but more in line with Zandvoort,” he said. “You’ve got some kind of cambered corners, off-camber, I think you have a good combination of all speed ranges, slow, medium, and high.”
At Monza, Norris finished fourth and teammate Oscar Piastri fifth, combining for a 22-point haul that the team described as a commendable return given the circuit’s mismatch with the MCL40’s current strengths. Norris had won the two races prior to Italy, in Budapest and Zandvoort.
Despite extensive simulator preparation, both drivers acknowledge the limits of what that work can replicate. Norris pointed to grip and speed sensation as the two biggest unknowns heading into Friday’s free practice sessions. “The biggest question is grip — grip allows you to either have a lot of confidence or very little,” he said. “The thing you miss and the thing that’s most different when you get in the car is the perception of acceleration and speed.”
Piastri, who won last season’s Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona-Catalunya, was candid about the unpredictability of a new street circuit at Formula 1 speeds. “Whether you can get into the same rhythm in real life, I’m not sure, because I probably would have written off a few cars if I tried to do everything like I did in the sim,” he said. “If I was to hazard, I guess I’m hoping that we’re going to be more competitive here than we were in Monza — we could be fighting certainly for the podium and hopefully for the win.”
Norris has never won in Spain. He finished second at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the last two Spanish Grand Prix held there and third at the same venue earlier this season when the race ran under its revised Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix name.