Verstappen Unimpressed by New Madrid Street Circuit

Max Verstappen said he remains no fan of street circuits after finishing sixth in second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday, four-tenths behind pace-setting championship leader Kimi Antonelli at Madrid’s new Madring circuit.

The Red Bull driver was direct when asked about his first day on the high-risk hybrid street track on the outskirts of Madrid. Verstappen said he will always prefer a circuit such as Spa in Belgium, while also acknowledging the work done to prepare the new venue.

His result in the second session left him sixth after two hours of running, with Antonelli leading the way for Mercedes. Charles Leclerc was second, Lewis Hamilton third and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad fourth. George Russell completed the top five in the second Mercedes.

Verstappen accepts Friday position

Verstappen said he was not surprised by where he and Red Bull stood after the opening day. He described the circuit as challenging and said the team’s position was more or less what it expected from Friday practice.

Red Bull’s focus is on improving the car’s balance and finding more pace over a single lap. Verstappen also pointed to the importance of assessing tyre behaviour over longer runs, while noting that the rest of the field faces the same task at the new track.

Although he was critical of the street-circuit format, Verstappen drew a distinction between that preference and the construction of the Madrid event. He said the organisers had done a really good job in the way everything had been built, but repeated that street circuits are not his preferred type of venue.

The new layout had been expected to create a difficult day, with many drivers and paddock observers forecasting multiple crashes and red flags. Instead, Friday’s action was unexpectedly straightforward, with only one red flag across the day.

That interruption came in second practice when Lindblad crashed. Despite the incident, the Racing Bulls rookie ended the session fourth fastest, behind Antonelli, Leclerc and Hamilton. His position put him ahead of Russell and Verstappen in the second-practice classification.

Mercedes and Ferrari lead as Red Bull searches for more

Mercedes and Ferrari set the pace throughout the day, with Antonelli finishing the second session at the top of the times. Leclerc and Hamilton followed for Ferrari, while Russell was fifth for Mercedes. Verstappen’s sixth-place finish put him ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull’s other car was driven by Liam Lawson, who was substituting for the injured Isack Hadjar. Lawson finished 10th in second practice, giving the team two cars inside the top 10 at the end of the session.

McLaren had a more restricted second practice on one side of its garage. Lando Norris completed only two laps before pitting for a new gearbox. McLaren technical director Mark Temple called the issue a big setback and said the team would try to give Norris as much track time as possible in FP3.

For Verstappen, the immediate priorities are clear: improve the balance, extract more from a qualifying-style lap and understand how the tyres perform on longer runs. His sixth-place result was not presented as a surprise by the four-time world champion, but it left him four-tenths off Antonelli’s benchmark after the first competitive running at the new Madrid circuit.

Friday’s sessions provided the first indication of the order at the Spanish Grand Prix, with Mercedes and Ferrari at the front and Red Bull still looking for gains. The limited number of interruptions also gave teams a relatively clean opening day to begin their work on the challenging new layout.