Formula 1 returns to Madrid this weekend after more than four decades away, but this is not a comeback to an old circuit. It is the beginning of something completely new. The Madring, a 5.4-kilometre, 22-turn hybrid of public roads and purpose-built sections around IFEMA, becomes the 78th venue to host a Grand Prix, and for the first time, every driver arrives without a single racing lap of experience here.
Then there is La Monumental. Turn 12 stretches for roughly 550 metres and carries up to 24% banking, turning what would normally be another high-speed corner into something closer to an arena. Around 45,000 fans will be able to watch the cars sweep through the 270-degree bend, potentially flat out, with the exit crest briefly taking the track out of the drivers' sight.
That uncertainty could be what makes Madrid fascinating. The asphalt is new, grip levels are unknown and the track will evolve rapidly as rubber goes down. Mercedes arrive with Kimi Antonelli holding a 66-point championship advantage after seven wins, but their dominant Monza weekend may tell us very little about what happens here. McLaren and Ferrari have already shown they can win on very different types of circuits.
And for Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, this is more than another Spanish Grand Prix. Sainz, born in Madrid, was the first driver to complete a lap of the finished Madring and knows the place better than anyone on the grid. Alonso gets a new home race of his own. But neither has history here, because nobody does.
That is the real attraction of Madrid. There are no old qualifying records to chase, no previous winners to predict and no proven setup to copy. On Friday, Formula 1 will begin writing the first page of Madring's history. By Sunday, someone will own the first victory.