Carlos Sainz addresses Madrid F1 concern after red flag chaos

Carlos Sainz has played down the disruption F1 sessions could endure at Madrid next weekend.

The Madring will make its F1 debut when it hosts round 14 of the 2026 season, taking over as the location of the Spanish Grand Prix.

The track has been under construction for several years and recently held an in-season Formula 3 test in anticipation of the maiden race event.

During the test, 19 red flags were deployed across two days, 11 of which were for contact with the barrier. 

It has generated concern that it could mean chaos for F1 this weekend, with Sainz acknowledging that the track will be a major challenge.

“With the way they've put the barriers and the design of the track, it's going to be one of the biggest challenges in F1 recently,” he said.

“The track reminds me a lot of Jeddah, reminds me a lot of Baku, even reminds me a bit of Macau in some ways. 

“So having that in F1 with 1,000 horsepower is going to be quite an interesting challenge.”

However, Sainz insisted that F1 is no stranger to dealing with the challenge of high-speed street tracks with close barriers.

As a result, he does not expect the weekend to to feature many chaotic incidents.

“Looking at the track and hearing of what happened in the F3 test, I think we are all expecting safety cars and red flags and yellow flags in quali.

“But it's been a fashion or a tendency of F1 to go to these kind of tracks like Jeddah or Baku that are closer to the city.

“They have more walls, and we haven't had any issues with it. The races actually seem to be going quite well at every place we've gone.

“It's that same similar trend that we're going towards.”