Why Madrid’s La Monumental corner lives up to its name

Formula 1 has no shortage of famous corners. Eau Rouge, Copse, and 130R have all earned their place in the sport’s history. But as construction continues on Madrid’s new Madring circuit, a corner is taking shape that promises to be unlike any other.

Turn 12, known as La Monumental, will combine the spectacle of a high-speed turn with the scale of a sporting arena. It is, without doubt, one of the most ambitious pieces of design ever conceived for a Grand Prix circuit.

The dictionary defines monumental as “great in importance, enormous and astounding” and when you stand in the middle of the steeply banked curve, you get a sense of its magnitude. It’s easy to imagine an F1 car on full throttle being a spectacular sight when the 5.4km Madring hosts the Spanish Grand Prix on 11-13 September.

La Monumental is named after one of the most prestigious bullrings in Spain, and the 270-degree curve will have the hallmark of a grand circular stadium surrounded by thousands of fans. On the inside of the corner will be two hospitality spaces, while the whole section is positioned within half a million square metres of land that will house the largest Fan Zone of any F1 track.

Why is it different to other banked corners?

When you consider banked bends in modern F1, you immediately think of Zandvoort’s two corners: the whirling bowl of Turn 3 and the final Arie Luyendykbocht heading onto the start/finish straight. Both curves at the Dutch circuit have progressive banking, where the outside of the turn has a higher slope than the inside.

According to Carlos Jimenez, Chief Operating Officer of Madring, who is overseeing the £125 million construction of the 22-turn track, the one restriction with La Monumental was “not to exceed a 24% gradient”, which is equivalent to 13.5 degrees.

At 18 degrees, Zandvoort’s corners are steeper, but the main difference is that they appear after two slow corners, so drivers are comfortably accelerating through the turn.

The difference with La Monumental is that it is approached at high speed, with Williams driver Carlos Sainz estimating that cars will enter the corner between 180 and 200kph and continue accelerating throughout its entire 550-metre length.

What does Carlos Sainz make of it?

Madring ambassador Sainz was a guest, alongside other dignitaries and executives, during an official opening ceremony last Tuesday, and he was asked for his thoughts on La Monumental after Spain’s largest flag had been hoisted at the end of the pit straight.

“I need a simulator to give you exact details of how it will feel, but I can already tell you, it looks impressive because we’re going to be entering that corner at a very high speed,” said Sainz, who has already driven the lap in a Ford Mustang GT road car. “My feeling is the corner is going to be flat out the whole way and it’s going to create an overtaking opportunity into the next tight left.

“The banking will allow you to maybe position the car higher up or lower down if you want to get clean air to follow. But if it’s easy flat, then it will also be a corner where if you stay tight, you will produce quite a bit of slipstream, like you see in Zandvoort.”

Although the track is 12 metres wide through La Monumental, the wall on the outside of the corner will make it a fearsome challenge when driven flat out. While some estimates of the entry speed are higher than Sainz’s suggestion, its ultimate velocity will be aided by the presence of a couple of slower corners, notably an uphill blind entry into Turn 8.

This means this generation of F1 car will harvest energy in these corners, allowing drivers to utilise maximum battery power around Turn 12.

There is also a crest on the exit of La Monumental, which will make it momentarily blind for the drivers as they look up to the sky. It’s this concept that has inspired the poster art for the event, with the slogan ‘De Madring al cielo’, which translates as ‘From Madring to Heaven.’ The iconic corner has also inspired Pininfarina’s design of the event’s trophies.

What about the rest of the track?

The Madring takes on two distinct characteristics and, at this stage, fans will not be able to walk from one side to the other as it is divided by a dual carriageway, with the track looping through two underpasses.

The southern section utilises public roads, with IFEMA’s exhibition halls doubling up as pit garages, and has a typical street-track feel. After passing beneath the highway, the circuit enters the Valdebebas area, which is notable for its inclines and descents. On the return to the pits, the track features a couple of fast sweepers, making it feel much more like a purpose-built facility.

The total 140,000 spectator capacity will be split across the north and south sections in a 60/40 ratio, with both areas of the track serviced by separate train stations, each within minutes of the international Barajas airport and 20 minutes from the city centre.

It has been 45 years since the Spanish capital last hosted a Grand Prix, at the Jarama circuit north of the city. When F1 heads to Madrid in September for the final round of the European season, drivers and fans will certainly be struck by the scale and monumental spectacle of Madring’s epic Turn 12.