Madrid GP rejects street track label and promises 'Scalextric' spectacle

Formula 1 returns to the Spanish capital for the first time in 45 years from September 11 to 13 when the sport dives back into the relative unknown.

Ferrari conducted a filming day at the so-called ‘Madring’, a 22-corner, 3.3-mile circuit that runs around the outskirts of Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground and the IFEMA convention hall, which so successfully hosted the first rolling F1 Exhibition.

Due to its location in one of Europe’s biggest capital cities, the track has been dubbed a ‘street circuit’, an expression which draws groans from F1 purists due to their ubiquity.

However, just 30 days before the first race, the circuit director, Luis Garcia Abad, has tried to quell such fears.

"It isn't [a street circuit] because the section of public road we use is only occupied by IFEMA; there are no driveways or houses,” he told Cadena SER. “We used that area to make a virtue of necessity.

While the details of the Madring aren’t high on F1 fans’ minds just yet, one corner in particular has broken through.

‘El Monumental’, a term usually given to mammoth South American football stadiums, should become part of F1 parlance as it’s also been coined for Turn 12.

Explaining what makes it so special, Garcia Abad, who was formerly Fernando Alonso’s agent, revealed all.

"It's 547 meters long and has a 24 per cent banking,” he said.

The name is particularly easy to remember, and there was some thought behind that too.

"We had to give it a special character, something that makes it recognisable and that makes children choose this circuit to play on in the video game,” Garcia Abad said.

Garcia Abad is keen for the debut to be a success, but he isn’t showing any hubris despite his bold proclamations.

"We have a ten-year contract and, like all Grand Prix events, we'll be refining details after this first edition,” he explained.