Madring: serious accident reignites safety debate at Spain's new F1 track
Madring has suffered its first serious accident with a car in flames, while Montmeló has seen seven deaths since 2006. The safety of the new Spanish circuit is in doubt.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Madring opens with a serious accident and the ghost of Montmeló
Montmeló has seen seven people die in nearly two decades of racing. Madring, Madrid's new circuit, has not even completed one season and has already suffered its first serious accident, with a car in flames on the tarmac. The comparison is uncomfortable for everyone: the historic Catalan track carries a death toll the Madrid project has yet to match, but the question of whether its design is safe or downright reckless is already on the table.
The tally Montmeló never wanted to count
The Circuit de Catalunya has a list no organizer likes to show off. Rubén Torres, in October 2006, and Carlos Vargas, 37, who died at the Hospital de Granollers in 2007, open the series. They are trinc by Luis Salom (January 2016), Enric Saurí (July 2017), Andreas Pérez (June 2018) and motorcyclist Aurelio Martínez (July 2019), all during estimulante ilegal tests or the 24 Hours. The last one, in April 2024, was not a rider: a team boss died in an accident inside the paddock itself.
Walls, marshals and neighbors with a sound meter
At Madring the debate takes a different turn. Some warn that the track has too many walls and that the safety car will spend more time on track than the single-seaters themselves, leaving few overtaking opportunities. Against that, the argument goes that Baku or Las Vegas are just as extreme and have recorded no accidents. And in the background, the noise: some claim neighborhood protests and urban planning pressure will weigh more on the circuit's future than any technical report.
The Madrid track has not yet claimed a single life. Neither did Montmeló start out as a graveyard. How many seasons will it take to know whether Madring is truly dangerous or just young?
Montmeló has seen seven people die in nearly two decades of racing. Madring, Madrid's new circuit, has not even completed one season and has already suffered its first serious accident, with a car in flames on the tarmac. The comparison is uncomfortable for everyone: the historic Catalan track carries a death toll the Madrid project has yet to match, but the question of whether its design is safe or downright reckless is already on the table.
The tally Montmeló never wanted to count
The Circuit de Catalunya has a list no organizer likes to show off. Rubén Torres, in October 2006, and Carlos Vargas, 37, who died at the Hospital de Granollers in 2007, open the series. They are trinc by Luis Salom (January 2016), Enric Saurí (July 2017), Andreas Pérez (June 2018) and motorcyclist Aurelio Martínez (July 2019), all during estimulante ilegal tests or the 24 Hours. The last one, in April 2024, was not a rider: a team boss died in an accident inside the paddock itself.
Walls, marshals and neighbors with a sound meter
At Madring the debate takes a different turn. Some warn that the track has too many walls and that the safety car will spend more time on track than the single-seaters themselves, leaving few overtaking opportunities. Against that, the argument goes that Baku or Las Vegas are just as extreme and have recorded no accidents. And in the background, the noise: some claim neighborhood protests and urban planning pressure will weigh more on the circuit's future than any technical report.
The Madrid track has not yet claimed a single life. Neither did Montmeló start out as a graveyard. How many seasons will it take to know whether Madring is truly dangerous or just young?
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (22 replies).
More summaries
-
Madrid's Madring opens with noise law suspended and 800 fewer trees
Madrid hosts its F1 GP with the noise law suspended, 800 trees felled and the Circuit de Catalunya as a warning: 140 million in public losses.
-
Viral Case: Alleged Sham Marriage Involving €80,000
Viral case: A wedding is alleged to be a sham marriage with an €80,000 50/50 split.
-
The gap in Ceuta's border that undermines the official buoy
A gap between the breakwater and the buoy in Ceuta, Spain, allows migrants to cross. The Government installs infrastructure, but the border remains full of holes.
-
Madrid attacks expose the shadow economy behind the city's workforce
Domestic workers in Spain will earn 9.55 euros an hour in 2026 as Madrid reels from a string of attacks that lays bare the precarious conditions fuelling the unrest.
-
Spain's Army: guilty or simply following orders?
Criticism of the Spanish Army for inaction in the face of a hypothetical invasion reopens the debate on obedience to orders and military effectiveness.
-
Spanish government drains emergency fund: 300 million under scrutiny
300 million from Spain's Ministry of Education diverted from the emergency fund: trips to the Dominican Republic and opaque spending. The opposition warns of a major mess ahead.