Nearly 72 hours after the chequered flag, the inaugural Madrid Grand Prix is still generating criticism. Much of the discussion has centred on the Madring layout and the changes already being considered to improve overtaking, but the circuit itself was not the only factor that deserves examination. Pirelli’s conservative C2, C3 and C4 tyre selection also contributed to a race in which strategic variation became extremely limited.
That matters because the first Formula 1 race held around the IFEMA exhibition complex produced even fewer overtaking moves than the Monaco Grand Prix, long regarded as the reference point for races where passing is especially difficult. If Monte Carlo can produce more on-track action than Madring, it is reasonable to ask whether every available sporting variable was used as effectively as possible.
Madrid GP overtaking problem goes beyond the circuit layout
A significant part of the responsibility unquestionably belongs to the track itself. Max Verstappen offered a straightforward explanation after the race: Madring effectively forces drivers onto one dominant racing line. There are too few credible alternatives when approaching corners, allowing the car ahead to occupy the ideal route and leave the following driver with very little room to construct an overtaking move.
The problem does not require an especially complicated aerodynamic explanation. If the only viable way through a corner is precisely where the car ahead is already positioned, overtaking naturally becomes an exception rather than something the circuit helps create.
The debut race has already prompted plans to reconsider parts of the venue, with three Madring corners set to be changed for 2027 following the Spanish Grand Prix overtaking problems. Yet concentrating entirely on the layout risks overlooking another factor that influenced Sunday’s race: the tyres.
Did Pirelli play too safe with its Madrid tyre selection?
For Formula 1’s first race at Madring, Pirelli selected the middle of its 2026 tyre range, bringing the C2, C3 and C4 compounds. It was a cautious choice and an understandable one given the uncertainty surrounding a completely new circuit, but the outcome was exactly what the race did not need: extremely conservative strategies and a one-stop approach that drivers wanted to postpone for as long as possible.
Charles Leclerc provided the clearest example. The Monegasque driver completed almost 50 laps on the same hard tyres with which he had started the Grand Prix, maintaining a remarkably competitive level of performance for a very long period.
From that point, Ferrari’s strategy became largely a waiting game. The objective was to preserve the tyres and extend the stint in the hope that a Virtual Safety Car, Safety Car or red flag might suddenly transform the strategic picture.
The complete compound sequences and stint lengths from the race can be examined through the ScuderiaFans F1 Tyre & Stint Analysis, which provides further context for just how long the harder compounds could remain competitive in Madrid.
Charles Leclerc’s long hard-tyre stint also discouraged attacks
The paradox was that the drivers behind Charles Leclerc had limited incentive to attack aggressively. They knew the Ferrari driver still had to make the mandatory stop, so preserving their own tyres was often more valuable than using them heavily in an attempt to pass a car that would eventually have to enter the pits.
That strategic dynamic made an already difficult race even more static. A layout offering limited passing opportunities was combined with tyres durable enough to reduce the need for different strategies, aggressive undercuts or significant pace offsets between cars on different compounds.
The issue is not whether Pirelli made a mistake. There is not enough information to make such a definitive judgement. The more useful question is whether, in a Formula 1 environment that already struggles to generate natural overtaking at certain venues, Madring really needed to be approached with such a cautious tyre selection.
Could C3, C4 and C5 tyres have created a better race?
C2, C3 and C4 were probably a reasonable combination from a safety perspective. But that is precisely where the debate begins. A slightly greater degree of risk may have been worthwhile.
A C3, C4 and C5 selection could potentially have introduced a much stronger strategic variable. Softer compounds would likely have required drivers to manage degradation more carefully, potentially creating larger performance differences between different phases of a stint and opening additional opportunities for overtaking.
That does not guarantee that the race would suddenly have become spectacular. The limitations of the Madring layout would still have existed. But tyres capable of creating more pronounced pace differences could at least have provided another mechanism for disrupting the running order.
The tyre discussion also fits into the broader technical analysis of the Spanish Grand Prix, where tyre behaviour, race pace and Madring’s inherent limitations all influenced how the event developed.
A new circuit gave Pirelli limited information before the weekend
There was, of course, a strong reason for caution. Madring was completely new to Formula 1, meaning the information available before the weekend was inevitably limited. Pirelli had to rely primarily on simulations and the small amount of track information gathered through the available testing opportunities, including Ferrari’s filming day several weeks earlier.
Predicting how a brand-new asphalt surface will react under Formula 1 loads and temperatures over an entire Grand Prix weekend is not straightforward. The combination of circuit evolution, tyre energy and changing conditions can make aggressive compound choices particularly difficult when there is no previous race data to use as a reference.
But that is also why the first Madrid Grand Prix should become useful evidence for future editions. If a new circuit is already structurally difficult for overtaking, combining that characteristic with a conservative tyre range removes one of the few remaining variables capable of creating strategic uncertainty.
If the track is static, the tyres need to create movement
Formula 1 in 2026 already faces a wider racing problem. The current cars can create situations where overtaking depends heavily on differences in available energy and battery management rather than purely on one car having superior dynamic performance.
Add increasingly similar semi-permanent circuits with broad asphalt areas but effectively mandatory racing lines, and there is a risk of producing races whose competitive order is largely established before the start.
Madring demonstrated that combination particularly clearly. The circuit did not provide enough alternative lines, the cars could not consistently produce natural overtaking opportunities, and the tyres did not create enough strategic differentiation to compensate.
Even Ferrari’s own weekend demonstrated how complex the circuit could be technically. The stiff SF-26 setup created significant compromises around Madring, showing that the venue could challenge engineers while still failing to create an entertaining race.
Formula 1 should be willing to take more risks in Madrid
That may be the most important lesson ahead of the next edition. If the circuit layout needs alterations, those changes should be made. But Pirelli could also afford to approach the weekend with slightly more ambition once better data is available.
When Formula 1 creates circuits that subsequently need repeated modifications to improve the racing, every available element should be used to make the Grand Prix less predictable. Tyres are one of those elements.
The spectacle should ultimately come from the cars racing on the circuit. It should not depend on the surrounding media operation, glamour, influencers or the number of events organised around the Grand Prix.
If the track makes overtaking exceptionally difficult and the tyres do not force drivers or teams to take meaningful strategic risks, very little remains capable of disrupting the race. For Formula 1, and particularly for a new event still establishing its identity, that is simply not enough.
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