Roadgrip Motorsport has been involved in bringing the new Madring in Madrid to life since June, working alongside the circuit’s designers and engineers tfrom pre-marking and testing through the final stages of construction, preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix, race weekend itself and post-event reinstatement.
For a new Formula 1 circuit, designs evolve, inspections generate changes, temporary race branding is added and, in the case of a circuit incorporating public roads, parts of the venue ultimately have to return to everyday use. Our team has been involved in that process from the start.
It has been a project that demonstrates just how much work goes into the surface of a brand-new Formula 1 venue before the cars ever reach the grid.
Our involvement began during the track build, with Roadgrip responsible for pre-marking the new circuit ahead of the final application of its sporting lines and painted areas.
As a new circuit created from the ground up, our team worked closely with the track designers and engineers to translate the plans onto the actual surface.
That included setting out the edge lines, kerbs, run-off designs and grid, checking positions and dimensions before the final coatings were applied. The markings needed to correspond with the approved circuit design and meet the relevant FIA specifications, while also accommodating adjustments as the new venue moved through its final stages of development.
The result was the distinctive Madring appearance that emerged over the summer, including the bold red and yellow Spanish-inspired designs that give the circuit a strong sense of place.
One of the particularly interesting aspects of Madring is that part of the circuit uses roads that also serve the public outside the Grand Prix.
These sections were resurfaced with asphalt suitable for the requirements of Formula 1, creating the racing surface required for Grand Prix cars while retaining their longer-term role within Madrid’s road network.
Roadgrip installed the road markings across these sections using FIA anti-slip paint, which meant the markings required for public-road use could coexist with the performance requirements of a racing circuit, where the grip characteristics of any coating applied to the track surface are an important consideration.
Our crews remained at Madring right up to race weekend. As the circuit progresses towards its first Grand Prix, alterations and refinements inevitably emerge.
Roadgrip remained available on site to make those ongoing changes, adjusting markings and painted areas as required by the wider project team.
Rather than treating the installation as a single painting contract, our role was to remain responsive throughout the commissioning of the circuit, working with the people responsible for its design, engineering and operation as Madring moved towards its first Formula 1 race.
A new track build involves months of construction activity, with machinery, vehicles, contractors and materials moving continually around the venue. Before Formula 1 cars can run, the finished racing surface needs to be exceptionally clean.
Roadgrip brought specialist beam sweepers onto the project to carry out a deep clean of the circuit and pit lane, removing debris and residue left behind during construction and final preparations.
It was one of the less visible parts of preparing Madring, but an essential final stage before the circuit was handed over for racing.
Our team remained in Madrid following the Grand Prix, beginning the process of converting the relevant areas from their race-weekend configuration.
On the public-road section of Madring, this includes reinstating the road markings required for normal traffic. Around the wider circuit, the temporary Formula 1 race branding is being covered and the Spanish flag designs reinstated, returning the venue to its intended post-event appearance.
It completes a cycle that began months before the Grand Prix: setting out a circuit that had never previously existed, installing its sporting and road markings, responding to changes during commissioning, preparing the surface for its first Formula 1 weekend and then adapting it again once the racing was over.
For Roadgrip Motorsport, Madring has been much more than another Grand Prix installation. It has been an opportunity to work alongside the designers and engineers from the formative stages of a completely new Formula 1 venue, and to remain part of the project from the first marks on fresh asphalt to the work continuing after the last Formula 1 car left the circuit.
Learn more about our work on global circuits at Roadgrip Motorsport or contact our team to discuss your race track.
