Hamilton addresses Ferrari Madring run as McLaren questions ‘advantage’

Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc played down the meaningfulness of their Madring laps during a Ferrari filming day.

This comes after McLaren principal Andrea Stella said his team were “surprised” by Ferrari’s visit to the venue, McLaren having not been notified. Stella had suggested that a “little bit of an advantage” was possibly gained by Ferrari, though what the Scuderia did was very much within the regulations.

Lewis Hamilton reacts to ‘very dusty’ Madring Ferrari run

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The Madring will debut next month as the new home of Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Ferrari christened the new Madring circuit with a filming day last month. Hamilton and Leclerc took to the track.

“We were not informed that Ferrari would have had this session in Madrid,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told PlanetF1.com.

He added: “The tyre are not very representative, and the track conditions will have been like horribly slippery, because it’s just a construction site.

“There’s always a little bit that you can learn. You have some references. Especially with this year’s power units, you get some references such that you don’t start from data that you have to completely assume because nobody has been there.

“So possibly a little bit of an advantage.

“It arrived to us as a surprise, but nothing that goes against the regulations. So we are thankful that at least we can see the track from the on-board.

“I think after a few laps in Madrid, we will have forgotten about that, and we will just get along with just focusing on the race weekend, so not a big deal.”

Using demo tyres on a track still surrounded by a construction site, Hamilton inferred that Ferrari did little representative running at the Madring.

“We only had a few laps,” Hamilton told PlanetF1.com and others.

“It was very, very dusty, as you would expect for a new circuit, and there was no grip. Your tyres were basically just covered in dust the whole time.

“The track was like 60 degrees [Celsius] or something like that, so it looks like it’ll be probably a qualifying lap sort of circuit, and there’s not really any straights. So it looks like it could be quite a difficult place to overtake.”

One specific section of the Madring attracting attention is the banked Turn 12, known as La Monumental. It will be the longest curved section on the Formula 1 calendar.

Hamilton was asked whether there is any prospect of drivers taking La Monumental flat out.

“I don’t know. I’m sure when the grip kicks up, when the track is clean, it’ll be even faster.

“We definitely had to lift through there because it was, as I said, super slippery.

“But it was a pretty cool experience to see a new circuit. We were one of the first basically to experience a new circuit.”

Leclerc was singing from the same hymn sheet when it came to the challenging track conditions during Ferrari’s Madring filming day.

“I did some laps behind a Stelvio, or whatever that car was,” he said. “Obviously, it was in the middle of the works. There was still so much work, and there was so much dirt on the track.

“But it looks like a cool track, and I love city tracks. It felt like a very challenging city track, which has all the characteristics that I like. So I cannot wait to try it properly once we go there for the race weekend.”

Asked if the circuit had a nice flow, Leclerc added: “Yeah, it does. But again, with the dirt that was on track, it’s not like I could push flat out. It’s difficult to comment on that, but it looks like a cool track.”

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Leclerc believes that we will soon be holding La Monumental in the highest regard among Formula 1’s most iconic corners.

“It’s a very, very special corner,” he said. “It’s a corner where I feel, in qualifying, we’ll have to be very brave because it’s going to be on the limits. So that’s going to be really cool. I think it’s going to be a really cool corner.

“I do believe it can become one of the most iconic corners of the season, especially once the grandstand is built. I think that will add also to the experience of that corner.

“Can it fit my driving style? I like city tracks in general, so I have little doubt that I’ll love Madring. Whether it will fit me or not, I don’t really know. But one thing for sure is that you will have to go full commitment, and this I always enjoy on city tracks.”

Asked how La Monumental compared to the final, banked corner at Zandvoort, Leclerc replied: “The final corner at Zandvoort is actually flat out. Maybe Turn 3 at Zandvoort is really cool as well. It’s slower, though. But at Madring, it doesn’t look flat as of now, at least. I was very, very far from being flat during testing, mostly because of the dust that was on track.

“But it’s just a very, very cool corner, and I can only imagine the way it will be during the race weekend. It will be very much on the limit.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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