First look: Ferrari gives Madrid track its F1 debut in filming day
Ferrari became the first team to complete running at Formula 1's newest track.
Ferrari has completed a filming day at Formula 1's newest venue, the Madring, which will host the championship for the first time in September.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were in action as Ferrari used one of its allotted filming days to complete 200km of running around the Spanish track. The Thursday action marks a major milestone for the venue, as it was the first time the track had been used in anger.
As this was a filming day and not a TPC outing [testing of previous cars], Ferrari was permitted to run this year's SF-26, but the team was forced to run Pirelli demonstration tyres, which have different wear rates to the regular race compounds, so as to limit any advantage that could be gained.
The day is understood to have run smoothly, with neither the team nor the venue suffering any major issues.
Work is continuing at a rapid pace in order to have the facility ready for its September debut, with grandstands and other fan areas still under construction.
While Ferrari is the first team to have lapped the track with F1 machinery, Carlos Sainz was the first driver to have gotten a taste, when completing laps in a road-going Ford Mustang in May.
The Madring will host the Spanish Grand Prix between September 11-13. This will be the second time F1 has visited Spain this term, after Hamilton took the first win of his Ferrari career at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Sam joined Crash.net in February 2026 with extensive experience in motorsport media, having covered numerous championships around the world.
