Ferrari to get early run on new Madrid F1 track with filming day
Ferrari will get a head start in its understanding of the new Madring Formula 1 circuit in Spain by holding a filming day at the Madrid track later this week.
The new home of the Spanish Grand Prix is to be closed on Thursday to allow Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to conduct some testing with its current car.
Both drivers are scheduled to run with an SF-26 for the day, which is understood to have been organised by race promoter as a way of checking everything is progressing as hoped.
While F1's rules restrict how much running Ferrari can do (see below), even the short outing with the current car will be hugely valuable in giving Ferrari real world data of the Madring track layout and its surface.
Even though the speeds will not be as high as at the actual race weekend, such early knowledge can be especially helpful with the current rules set, as grip levels through corners can have a significant impact on energy management.
The Madring layout also throws up a unique challenge with the La Monumental banked corner, which could prove critical in terms of car set-up and ride heights depending on the racing line taken and how heavy the vertical and lateral loads are.
The Spanish GP is due to take place on September 11-13.
What the rules say
The Ferrari filming day is classified under the regulations as a Promotional Event – of which teams are allowed to run two during the year.
Ferrari burned the first of its allocation at Monza in April prior to the Miami Grand Prix, so the Madring run will be its second.
The rules put a ceiling on running at 200km, and the car must use tyres that are specifically designed for such filming days.
Other than the mileage and tyre limit, running it as a promotional event comes without restrictions that would have prevented Ferrari testing there with an older car.
Under F1's Testing of Previous Cars regulations, there are some stipulations that restrict running at new tracks, or circuits that have been heavily modified.
This is aimed at preventing teams getting an unfair advantage by gathering data at new or modified venues prior to an F1 race weekend.
So limits that prevent TPC running if the circuit did not host an F1 event "the year falling immediately prior to the year of the championship" would outlaw teams from doing TPC running in Madrid.
F1's testing regulations have even been further tightened up for 2027 to prevent TPC running at circuits that did not feature in the two years prior.
F1 teams are not allowed any TPC running at tracks in the 60 days before the start of a competition.