Ferrari set for SF-26 filming day on Madrid’s new Madring F1 circuit

Ferrari prepares first F1 run at Madring

Ferrari is set to put the SF-26 on track this week at Madrid’s new Formula 1 venue, with the Scuderia scheduled to complete a filming day on Thursday at the street circuit now labelled Madring.

Under the filming day framework, the session is officially dedicated to promotional activity. The regulations allow up to 200km of running, shared between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Momentum follows Ferrari into Madrid

The outing comes immediately after Ferrari’s second victory of the 2026 campaign. Leclerc’s British Grand Prix win at Silverstone followed Hamilton’s earlier success in Barcelona, giving the Scuderia two wins in three rounds and reinforcing its recent competitive surge. For more on Ferrari’s post-Silverstone position, read our analysis of how Fred Vasseur cooled Ferrari title talk after the Silverstone surge.

Ferrari sits second in the championship, 78 points behind Mercedes, while Hamilton and Leclerc are third and fourth respectively in the drivers’ standings. Against that backdrop, the Madrid running arrives at a moment when every extra operational and circuit-specific reference point carries value, even within the limitations of a filming day.

A key test for the new Spanish GP venue

Perhaps the most striking element is how quickly the session has been organised. Until only a few days ago, Madring was still an active construction site, particularly around the grandstands and paddock infrastructure. A recent media visit showed work continuing across several parts of the facility.

The circuit itself, however, is complete. The 5.416km track features 22 corners and a long banked section, making Ferrari’s appearance an important public marker of progress as the venue moves toward its first grand prix weekend.

For the organisers, the value is clear. Running an F1 car on the completed layout provides an early opportunity to verify operations, procedures and infrastructure under conditions far closer to a race event than any static inspection could offer. For Ferrari, it is a first taste of a new venue that will soon form part of the competitive calendar.