Why Madring’s banked Turn 12 could be crucial in the F1 Spanish GP

Pirelli says La Monumental puts F1 tyres under sustained loads unlike any other corner, while drivers have found there is lap time to gain by judging the throttle correctly

The latest addition to the Formula 1 calendar had already sparked plenty of discussion in the paddock before the weekend. Most of the conversations centred on safety and whether the track around the IFEMA complex would actually prove to be a ‘car killer’, as several teams feared after the rather chaotic F3 test.

Another aspect that attracted plenty of interest was La Monumental, Turn 12 of the new circuit. It is the corner with 13.5 degrees of banking, which equates to an incline of around 24%.

This is less than the final corner at Zandvoort – the Arie Luyendyk corner has 18 degrees of banking – but despite that, Pirelli describes La Monumental as the toughest corner on the entire F1 calendar for the tyres.

"Basically the peak of the vertical energy is not higher than in other corners that we have in the calendar, like in Qatar, the banking in Zandvoort, et cetera. It's more about the time you are under load and the continuous load that you have," Pirelli’s chief engineer Simone Berra explained.

"So basically instead of two or three seconds, you have 5.5 seconds under those loads. So you have double the duty cycle in that area. That is the main thing to keep in mind and what we are considering in our calculations."

For now, the real-world picture appears to correspond with the calculations Pirelli carried out ahead of the weekend, Berra confirmed when asked by Motorsport.com.

"At the moment it's in line with our simulations. Obviously we are still checking all the loads and all the data. We have just checked three or four teams for now, but what we have seen so far is in line with what we expected," Berra said on Friday night.

The length of the banked corner means that the overall load on the tyres is greater than at Zandvoort

Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images

This means there are no safety concerns for the time being, as there have been in Qatar in the past, first because of the so-called pyramid kerbs and later because of the sheer load. In Madrid, measures such as a maximum stint length or other interventions are not on the table for now.

"At the moment there is nothing to be concerned about," Berra confirmed. "Obviously we are still working and need to revise all the data. We will continue even tomorrow because we are sectioning the tyres, so we have to check all the constructions. This procedure is not yet finished. Saturday morning we are going to cut other tyres from FP2 and we are going to cut tyres from FP3 as well, but for now there are no concerns."

Which teams were right? Pirelli reveals differences in simulations

Aside from safety, there was another interesting question about La Monumental beforehand: can the banked corner be taken flat-out or not?

The final corner at Zandvoort is easily flat-out, although its Madrid counterpart is different. Not only is this corner longer, but it also features more elevation change. The corner starts high, before the drivers descend, then climbs again towards the exit, before dropping once more on the way towards Turn 13.

Because of this complexity, the teams’ simulations differed considerably, Pirelli reveals.

"It was interesting to see if the simulations from the teams were aligned in Turn 12, in La Monumental, because some teams were expecting to be grip limited," added Berra. "They expected that they had to lift from the throttle in this section, while other teams expected to be full throttle there.

Verstappen had already predicted on Thursday that the corner wouldn’t be taken at full throttle and that ‘driver skill’ would be a factor

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

"The reality is that the teams that simulated lifting were correct. Especially in the first part of the turn, they had to lift a bit, like 30 or 40% from the throttle. And then after two seconds, they could push again.

"This was quite interesting because this affects the loads on the tyres and the tyre integrity analysis that we are doing every weekend."

This can also be seen in the data from the second free practice session, including that of the three fastest drivers. It must be said, however, that there are differences between them, mostly related to energy management and charging the battery.

Both Ferrari drivers started the corner at full throttle before lifting significantly, while Kimi Antonelli was already more cautious with his throttle input on corner entry. In the second part of the corner, everyone is easily flat-out, with enough energy available.