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Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard admitted that he had a chuckle when he saw the announcement for Madrid and what stood out for him was the claim that 90% of F1 fans would reach by public transport. The last few years have seen a concerted effort from the sport to move more and more towards street circuits. As a result, what we've had is plenty of new destinations popping up on the calendar.
The last few seasons have also seen a major jump in street circuits as well. Jeddah was introduced in 2021 and was part of the title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. The 2022 F1 season saw the inaugural race in Miami while the race in Las Vegas made its debut in 2023. The announcement of the race on a street track in Madrid also included the race becoming the de facto Spanish GP.
In the press release from FOM, one of the things that stood out was that as many as 90% of the fans could reach the circuit through public transport, hence cutting down majorly on emissions. Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard was amused at the announcement and while talking to Total-Motorsport.com, he specifically touched on how he found the announcement amusing, saying:
“My takeaway from the announcement was that 90 per cent of the fans can arrive there by public transport. That’s all very nice for the politicians and the greens, but I don’t think it’s the first thing that race fans think about when they go to a Grand Prix, ‘can I get there by using the bus and the train network?’"
He added:
“I think the main thing is, ‘Is this going be a great experience? Does [it] give me value for my hard-earned money? And I am going to go away feeling I’ve got a life-changing or life-enhancing experience’, [which] is probably [what] I think people like myself [want] when I invest money in tickets to go see events or a concert. I want to be entertained; I want to be in a happy place. So I had to giggle when I saw the [public transport claim as] one of the justifications for the Madrid bid.”
"Liberty Media feels it is better in Madrid" - Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard
The addition of Madrid could in the long term lead to the departure of Circuit de Catalunya, a track that has been a part of the calendar for a long time. Talking about the drive of the Liberty Media to grow the sport, the former Red Bull driver felt that the owner of the sport felt this might be the right decision to grow F1 and by the likes of it, Madrid also wants the race badly enough. He said,
“Clearly Madrid wanted it badly enough to submit a tender and design and commission and go about building a racetrack. So as Formula 1 looks to grow, its growth is going to come through commercial rights deals, and for the fans, they [Liberty Media] obviously feel it’s better in Madrid."
Current Red Bull driver and reigning champion Max Verstappen has also been a vocal critic of the sport for bringing in too many street circuits. It remains to be seen what his reaction would be but one could guess it might not be the most positive one.
