The first ever Madrid EPrix will feature a re-profiled chicane on the Circuito del Jarama pit straight as Formula E visits Spain for only the second time in its 12 year history.
The modified section will see cars now negotiating a left and then right turn as opposed to an equally temporary right to left complex that was used for the hastily arranged pre-season test in November 2024.
Formula E Notebook can reveal the circuit layout for the sixth round of the 2025-26 ABB FIA Formula E world championship at Jarama, which kicks off the European leg of the campaign, will see the chicane located at the same area of track as the 2024 test.
That test was moved to Madrid then after devastating floods affected Valencia and the surrounding areas including the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
The driver who set the fastest time from that test, Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, told FEN this month that expected differing temperatures and more knowledge of the Gen3 Evo Hankook tyres will make the Jarama weekend a very different challenge next month.
“We’ve got data from there, so that’s important,” said Evans.
“But it was very cold and a different time of the year. The chicane will probably be slightly different from what I hear. We were good there, we were quick but how we were running then to now is so different. So how much do you try and pick from what we were doing back then to what we’re doing now.
“I think we have to trust more what we’re doing now, because things have evolved. That was the first pre-season test of this Evo car and these tyres. I think what we’ve got now should work well there, so we’ll try and use that data as much as we can and try to hit the ground running.”
On whether or not Jarama would make for good Formula E racing, Evans was reasonably confident, citing the length of the race and the usable energy allocation as obvious criteria as to what type of racing would be seen at the former Spanish Grand Prix venue.
“We did a mock sim last time we were there and it was quite intense,” said the Jaguar TCS Racing driver.
“It all depends on if I want to do the energy management and how sensitive they want the race in terms of the energy profiles, and if they want a lot of saving or not.
“If there’s quite a bit of saving, then the race will be intense. If there’s not, then it’ll be a little bit harder to overtake. It’s not a track you can maybe overtake everywhere, but you can overtake.
“We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s actually a really challenging track. I think we all enjoyed it last time we went, but you have to get it right. If you make a mistake, it can be quite costly. But we just hope it’s a good event. I’ve heard it’s sold out, so that’s good news.”
A large crowd is expected at the venue after Formula E and Madrid EPrix title partners CUPRA syndicated tickets for the race.
FEN has learned that an extra grandstand is set to be installed early next month to accommodate the expected crowd at the Spanish capital’s first ever EPrix which will be known as the 2026 CUPRA Raval Madrid EPrix.
Georgia Williams contributed to this story
